MICROSOFT SURFACE KIOSK UNVEILED AT WESTFIELD MONTGOMERY MALL [PHOTOS] - BETHESDA MICROSOFT POP-UP SHOP OPENS OCTOBER 26!

IT'S A MICROSOFT KIOSK,

NOT A STORE

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive

The highly-anticipated Microsoft Pop-up Store has been unveiled at Bethesda's Westfield Montgomery Mall.  As it stands now, the Pop-up shop is actually a cellphone/cosmetics-style kiosk.  But it is in one of the most heavily-trafficked, central floor spaces in the mall.

Bethesda Microsoft Surface Kiosk

True to rumors, the Microsoft Kiosk is not far from the mall's Apple Store, enticing potential Surface tablet buyers to test the machine head-to-head against the iPad.

While I'm excited to try out the Surface - and we all knew that's what this was about, anyway - it's disappointing that there does not seem to be enough space to display the Kinect, Windows 8, or the new Windows phones.  The theming, as you can tell from these photos, is all about the Surface.

The kiosk opens October 26, so in the meantime, enjoy what may be the first photos of a Microsoft Pop-up Kiosk in our region.

MICROSOFT POP-UP STORE OPENING OCTOBER 26 IN BETHESDA

My prediction that the Bethesda Microsoft Pop-up store would open on October 26 has been vindicated.  The store will indeed open that day, Microsoft announced yesterday, the same day the company's much-anticipated Surface tablet goes on sale.

Microsoft's pop-up store will be located at Westfield Montgomery Mall through the holiday season.