Microsoft releases official video of the Surface event

Microsoft has released an official video of its mystery event.

The video, which is a lengthy 48 minutes in length, shows Steve Ballmer revealing two tablets, the Surface RT and Surface Pro.

Based on Windows 8 RT, the first tablet has an ARM-processor, USB 2.0 port, 10.6-inch ClearType display with an aspect ration of 16:9 (720p quality, apparently), a Type Cover which is a protective cover and keyboard rolled into one, 32GB or 64GB of storage and a microSD slot for adding even more.

It's 9.3mm thick and the Type Cover is just 3mm, making it a smidge under the iPad's dimensions even though the display is larger. It weighs 676 grams.

The second Surface tablet is based on Windows 8. It comes equipped with an Intel Ivy Bridge processor, so we're talking fast laptop processing, not tablet processing, USB 3.0 support and storage in two forms, 64GB or 128GB.

With all that extra oomph comes at a price. The Surface Pro weighs 903g and is 13.5mm thick. However, you do get a full 1080p display.

Both devices come with Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013, which means they are enterprise ready and should be able to perform office tasks with relative ease, partly thanks to the well-designed keyboard.

The Surface Windows 8 RT will launch towards the end of the year (October is our bet) and the Intel version 'three months later', according to Microsoft.

Exact prices haven't been revealed but the firm said the Surface RT will be competitively priced against other ARM tablets (around $500), and the Surface Pro is expected to rival ultrabook prices (around $900).

Seems pricey, but remember both devices come with a keyboard accessory - something Apple doesn't ship with its iPad. And, knowing Microsoft, we may see some heavy pricing subsidies to get the ball rolling, as it did with the original Xbox console.

Scroll on down for the video.