NEW YORK/SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp unveiled faster, more powerful versions of its Surface tablet computer in an effort to boost poor sales of its flagship hardware product and mount a stronger challenge to Apple Inc's iPad.
The Surface is key to Microsoft's plan to reinvent itself as a devices and services company, but the revamp comes less than a year after it brought out its own computers for the first time and failed to put a dent in the market. It has racked up only US$853mil (RM2.5bil) in sales while generating a US$900mil (RM2.7bil) charge for unsold inventory.