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Summary: If the claims are true, we'll be seeing 8.6-inch, 11.6-inch, and 14.6-inch models available sometime next year.
By Sean Portnoy for Laptops & Desktops |December 5, 2012 -- 12:48 GMT (04:48 PST)
Despite signs that its Surface tablets haven't yet set the world on fire, sales-wise, Microsoft appears to be moving full-speed ahead on plans to expand its lineup in 2013 with models of varying screen size, including a whopping 14.6-inch version.
According to MS Nerd, who has proven accurate in past leaks of Microsoft plans, the computing giant has a trio of new Surface slates in the works, including a "Mini" model. While not as small as an iPad mini, this Surface RT supposedly comes with an 8.6-inch screen and uses a Qualcomm processor rather than an Nvidia Tegra one.
Having made a nod toward the smaller tablet market, Microsoft then thinks bigger with the other rumored new Surface flavors. One would be 11.6 inches and surprisingly make use of AMD's forthcoming Temash processors instead of Intel chips. Then there's the Surface Book, with a laptop-sized 14.6-inch screen powered by Intel's upcoming Haswell CPUs and presumably endowed with some convertible features. These larger Surfaces would run Windows 8 Pro instead of Windows RT.
Don't expect the new models in the early part of next year, since neither Temash nore Haswell platforms will have launched. But if these rumors are true (and past MS Nerd leaks have proven correct on a number of occasions), then Microsoft's hardware partners will have even more reason to have their feathers ruffled as Surface moves into additional form factors.
[Via PC World]
By Sean Portnoy for Laptops & Desktops |December 5, 2012 -- 12:48 GMT (04:48 PST)
Despite signs that its Surface tablets haven't yet set the world on fire, sales-wise, Microsoft appears to be moving full-speed ahead on plans to expand its lineup in 2013 with models of varying screen size, including a whopping 14.6-inch version.
According to MS Nerd, who has proven accurate in past leaks of Microsoft plans, the computing giant has a trio of new Surface slates in the works, including a "Mini" model. While not as small as an iPad mini, this Surface RT supposedly comes with an 8.6-inch screen and uses a Qualcomm processor rather than an Nvidia Tegra one.
Having made a nod toward the smaller tablet market, Microsoft then thinks bigger with the other rumored new Surface flavors. One would be 11.6 inches and surprisingly make use of AMD's forthcoming Temash processors instead of Intel chips. Then there's the Surface Book, with a laptop-sized 14.6-inch screen powered by Intel's upcoming Haswell CPUs and presumably endowed with some convertible features. These larger Surfaces would run Windows 8 Pro instead of Windows RT.
Don't expect the new models in the early part of next year, since neither Temash nore Haswell platforms will have launched. But if these rumors are true (and past MS Nerd leaks have proven correct on a number of occasions), then Microsoft's hardware partners will have even more reason to have their feathers ruffled as Surface moves into additional form factors.
[Via PC World]
