Dance star: Microsoft's first Surface ad hits US TV screens

The first ads for Microsoft's forthcoming Surface tablets have hit TV screens across the US, forming just one part of what is believed to be a $1 billion Windows 8 marketing campaign.

Unlike Apple's iPad ads which have adopted an intentionally stripped back, functional form of late  this first Surface TV spot focuses on movement and momentum, placing several Surface units at the heart of an intricate dance routine.

Pick a colour

Microsoft has also made the range of colours Surface's cover-cum-keyboard is available in key to the campaign, giving the ad a notably different feel to black on white approach of Apple's iPad spots.

The ad's official launch comes days after Microsoft's first Windows 8 ads which depict the OS in use across multiple forms of hardware were leaked across the web.

They have since been pulled from YouTube.