Components Jacked-Up In Next Gen Surface Tablets

On Monday, the software giant Microsoft unveiled an update made to its Surface tablets that include the simpler Windows Surface 2 and the full Surface Pro 2. The burgeoning niche of the tablet market is being dominated by Apple’s iPad and a healthy level of rivalry offered by products based on Google’s Android OS. Not wanting to miss out on this loaded ride, Microsoft launched its own take in the form of Surface tablets and chose to use its own products for promoting Windows RT and Windows 8. Last year, the company made its first attempt, which was highly disappointing, but its back again with enhanced internal specifications.

The Microsoft Vice President of Surface introduced the Surface Pro 2 as a tablet design of a complete laptop. He said that in contrast to its predecessor, this tablet boasted a 20% better battery life and 50% enhanced graphics. The screen can be tilted by the users at two different angles with the ‘dual position kickstand’. The Surface 2, on the other hand, is operating on a stripped-down version of the new Windows and succeeds Surface RT. However, as per the company, this device is faster, lighter and thinner. A Tegra 4 Chip obtained from Nvidia is included in the Surface RT.

As opposed to its predecessor, it is three times faster and boasts a full HD 1080p screen. The battery life has also improved by 25%. Microsoft also introduced some new things in regard to accessories that include a Power Cover, a dock for the tablet, a thinner Type Cover and also a new-back-lit keyboard. The company has attached a price tag of $499 to the Surface 2 32 GB version and running on Windows RT and this is $50 less than the original. $549 is charged for a 64GB version. Meanwhile, the price of the 64GB version of the Pro tablet will be available for $899.

The tablets are available for preorder and will be hitting the stores on October 22nd of this year.  It was also mentioned that the latest processor of Intel that’s called Haswell has been used in the Surface Pro 2. This means that as compared to 90% of the laptops available in the market, this tablet is way faster and is 20% quicker than its predecessor. Also, a 75% improved battery life has been given to the Surface Pro 2 in contrast to the original. A 46% improvement in the color accuracy of the Surface Pro 2 is another advantage.

The sales of the first Surface tablets launched by Microsoft were dismal, to say the least. In July, the company had to make a write off worth $900 million for the Surface RT tablets and the company later stated that only $853 million had been generated in terms of revenue from the Surface RT and the Surface Pro combined in the year since they made their debut. In the second quarter of this year, only 4.5% of all tablet shipments were that of the Windows RT and Windows 8 devices. 

New Surface Tablet Unveiled By Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is back with a new Surface a year after its flubbed introduction of the Surface tablet line. The US tech giant is attempting to correct the mistakes that it made in the first shot and gain a stronghold in the tablet computers market, which is currently being dominated by the iPad of Apple Inc. and other tablets that are based on the Google Android Operating system. The company had invited the media for a launch of its new Surface in New York on September 23rd. The software giant unveiled two new models of this line; the Surface 2 and the Surface Pro. The company has also launched an expanded portfolio of its usual Surface accessories.

Details of the device hadn’t been known in the market, but it had been expected by analysts that the company would introduce a more powerful tablet. However, the speculation about the price doesn’t seem to be true as Microsoft has shown some sensibility there. Significant updates have been made to both of these two tablets, which include improved battery life and processing power. Adjustments have also been made to Windows RT 8.1 and Windows Pro 8.1 and this has made the two devices even more powerful and customizable.

Microsoft announced that the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 will be available in approximately 22 initial markets that include Italy, Finland, Denmark, the Luxemborg, Belgium, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Portugal, Austria, Sweden, Australia, China and the US. It will also be available on online stores of the company. A release date of October 22nd has been announced for the tablets in the aforementioned countries, except for China where it will be available in early November. Microsoft stated that in the coming months, it would announce additional markets as well. Pre-orders for the devices will begin from September 24th on Best Buy, Microsoft stores and other selective retailers.

The company had barely made a dent in the competitive and sizzling tablet market when it had introduced the first-generation of the Surface tablet last year in October. The purpose behind this move was to shift the focus to device and services in order to compete in a better way with its rivals such as Google and Apple. Sales figures weren’t reported by the company, but revenue of just $853 million had been earned in the year that ended in June. Because of weak sales of its tablets, the company had been forced to make a write-down of about $900 million.

However, it is expected that the new release of the Surface tablets will be much better than the last one. Previously, Microsoft’s pricing strategy had also proved to be a turnoff for customers, but the company has seemingly made adjustments. The Surface 2, which will be an ideal device for personal use, equipped with all entertainment and gaming capabilities will be available for $449. In contrast, the Surface Pro 2 is a laptop replacement that brings considerable improvement in areas and is priced at $899.