Microsoft recently announced the next element of its Surface line, the tablet that can play double role as laptop due to a keyboard attachment (sold separately). Surface 3, now available for pre-order at $499, will ship by May 5th. Surface 3 has lost some weight, in figure and in price, marking a steep discount on the Surface Pro 3’s $800 price tag. The youngest sibling will complement the Surface Pro 3 by offering a 10.8-inch device in a 1920×1280 resolution; a bit more than full-HD, but with a 3:2 resolution like its older brother. It could be that Microsoft wanted the display to look and feel more like a sheet of paper. The device is fed by an Intel Atom x7 processor, a chip with enough juice to power a full version of Windows 8.1 and, later this summer, Windows 10. This is the high-end model, the release suggesting a quad-core Atom design running above 2GHz. The SoC will be accompanied by 64GB of storage with 2GB RAM or 128GB of storage with 4GB RAM, plus a 4G ‘LTE Ready’ version that will join at a later date. Battery life is claimed to run for up to 10 hours for video playback and the screen is described as having “incredibly accurate colors.” Surface 3 will be 8.7mm (0.34 inch) thin at 622 grams (1.37 pounds). It will bring with it a standard 3-position stand and a few accessories: the standard Type Cover, a Docking Station with USB ports, an Ethernet jack and an additional Mini Display Port, and The Surface Pen. The later will be available in red, blue, black, and silver with 256 levels of pressure sensitivity. On the hybrid device will be a full-size USB 3.0 port, a mini-DisplayPort, and a microSD...