At the AT&T media luncheon, we saw a live demo of Microsoft’s Surface, a product that AT&T announced it would use in its retail stores to assist customers in purchasing handsets and plans.

During the demo, an AT&T employee showed us how customers will be able to zoom in on a map of the United States to check coverage in their area by seeing colored overlays displaying whether certain areas have GSM, EDGE, or 3G access across the United States.

Would-be customers can also drop a handset on Surface to get more information about it; information flows out into diagrams that list specific phone features and services supported by the phone. Users can listen to ringtones or choose data and voice plans.

Customers can also place two phones on Surface side by side to compare the features of each phone against the other. That way they’ll be able to figure out which phone has what they need without having to wait in line to speak with a store employee that may or may not know that information off the top of his or her head.

AT&T didn’t disclose how much it’s paying Microsoft for each Surface unit, but it did say that if the initial rollout goes well, we’d likely see Surface units in many of AT&T’s retail outlets.

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