After a less-than-stellar performance of its Surface tablets, Microsoft is sticking with the brand with rumours circulating out of the USA that the next iteration will be released near the end of this month. It is expected to have the same Windows RT operating system that Surface RT had, but it is thought that they will drop the RT moniker and call it simply the Surface 2.
By Mike Wheeler
After a less-than-stellar performance by its Surface tablets, Microsoft is sticking with the brand with rumours circulating out of the USA that the next iteration will be released near the end of this month.
It is expected to have the same Windows RT operating system that Surface RT had, but it is thought that they will drop the RT moniker and call it simply the Surface 2.
Microsoft and hardware have always been strange bedfellows with some investors wishing the company would stick to its core business of software. Hardware failures in the past have included the Zune MP3 player and Kin handset.
Having released the Surface tablets in the last quarter 2012, Microsoft had to slash the price of the device by up to $150 in order to stay competitive in a crowded market, but even then sales were still struggling.
So what is the rumour mill saying in regards to new features and specs? A few things have surfaced, but nothing that would excite people to turn away from their iPad or Galaxy Tab. Most pundits are saying the Tegra 3 processor will be upgraded to a 4, while the screen resolution will be better at 1920 x 1080 pixels, which means playing games and watching movies will be a better experience.
It is also expected to have the normal bells and whistles including wifi 802.11, full-sized USB 3.0 port, micro-SD expansion of up to 64 GB, and HD video-out port. As far as software goes, it is will probably have Office Home and Student 2013 RT with Outlook RT, while its operating system will be Windows RT 8.1.
All these things make the unit nice, but there is nothing in that that would make your average technology consumer perk up and go “wow”, and when Microsoft is substantially behind its competitors, it needs a few such factors to make it appealing to customers.
If it could make both its front- and rear-facing cameras 5 and 8 megapixels respectively, add more storage, and more connectivity, it would start to compete with more obvious contenders in the tablet space.
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