Tag Archives: Surface pro

Firmware Updates for Surface Pro and Surface RT Released,Fixes WiFi and other Issues

Yesterday Microsoft released the customary Patch Tuesday updates for their Surface Pro and Surface RT devices.

The recent updates include patches for the Limited connectivity issues for Windows RT based Surface RT.The Surface RT updates includes following improvements,

Certain “Limited” connectivity issues resolved
Improves Wi-Fi to handle a wide range of access points.
Resolves system crashes caused by certain Wi-Fi issues.

Talking about the updates for the Windows 8 Pro based Surface Pro,the updates includes following improvements,

Resolves an issue with on screen touch navigation in the UEFI boot menu.
Resolves some Surface Type and Touch cover connectivity issues.
Support for 106/109 keyboards on North American Surface devices.
Resolves an issue where toggling airplane mode would disable the Wi-Fi driver.

Since these are the cumulative updates,if you haven’t updated your device before this update,all previous updates will automatically get installed when you install these updates on your Surface Pro or Surface RT.

To update your Surface device manually you need to PC Settings (from the Charm Bar),then tap on Settings option,then tap on Change PC settings,then tap on Windows Update and click on Check for Updates.to update your Surface devices.

Source[Microsoft update page for Surface Pro and Surface RT]

Bloomberg Reports,Microsoft Sold 1.5 million Surface Devices till date!

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Microsoft Released the Surface RT 5 months ago and the Surface Pro version last month,but they haven’t shared any numbers about the sales of either of the devices.

But according to latest reports from Bloomberg,who have sources with the knowledge of Microsoft’s Surface devices said that the company has sold around 1.5 million Surface devices including 400 thousand Surface Pro devices which were released around a month ago.So the Surface RT sells numbers are around 1.1 million mark.Which is no way close to phenomenal or outstanding.

But if we consider the Surface Pro sells,it is an encouraging sign with 400,000 sells in 1 months time,but the same can’t be said about Surface RT,which has been on the receiving end of the criticism for it’s limitations.

The Surface RT had initial issues with Distribution,but then it was rolled out through non Microsoft channels and more countries.Surface Pro which is currently available in United States and Canada and quite recently in some more markets,which is a good sign for the Surface Pro and we can expect at least the Pro version to put better numbers than the RT version.

Source[Bloomberg]

Microsoft Reveals Early Prototype of Surface Touch Cover

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The Touch and Type covers for the Surface tablets are the integral part of the Surface RT/Pro line up.

Recently on the Surface Blog,Microsoft posted some earlier designs of Touch Cover prototypes which then went on to be a final product that we see today.

The above picture shows the inside of the early pressure sensitive full keyboard prototype.Tis pressure sensing technology allows the Touch Cover users to type faster and fluidly on the keyboard.

Image Credits[Microsoft]But as we all know the Touch cover is not just about typing,but also for protecting the Surface Display,so to double the Touch Keyboard as a Cover for the Surface.So to protect the Surface Screen the Tactile Surface Material was used which would cover up the Screen when the keyboard lid is closed.Moreover The Touch Cover is spill resistant(protected from accidental liquid spill on the keyboard.Lastly they wanted to include the Trackpad in the keyboard so that the users can navigate through apps using the fingers and clicks on the trackpad making the Surface much easier to use with the Keyboard.

The special limited edition Touch Covers are still available at the online Microsoft Store,So you can grab one for your Surface while its still available.

Source[Surface Blog]

Surface Pro and Surface RT to Expand to New Markets by end of March

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Last month we saw the release of Surface Pro in the United States and Canada as well as the expansion of Surface RT in 13 new countries starting from Valentines Day.

As reported earlier on the Surface Blog,the company is all set for a major rollout by the end of this month.The Surface RT will expand to Japan,Mexico,New Zealand,Russia,Singapore and Taiwan in coming months,so this now strengthen the earlier rumors about the Surface RT launch in Japan in March.

While the Surface Pro will be rolled out to as many as 7 new countries in coming months.The countries include Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Though they didn’t specify any dates for the rollout but we can expect a detailed post on the same in coming days.This rollout will definitely help boost the Windows 8/RT tablet worldwide market share.

Source[Surface Blog]

Want a free Surface Pro? Share Your Windows 8 Story Today !

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It’s been 4 months since the launch of the Windows 8/RT operating system and Microsoft wants to celebrate the 4 month anniversary of their newest operating system in style.

Microsoft recently announced the Windows 8 Story contest .If you have been using a licensed Windows 8 operating system and live in the United States ,You can bag a free Surface Pro or can win a trip to March Madness and many other goodies.

All you need to do is to create a video,sharing your experience with Windows 8 and why do you love to use it,then visit the Facebook Contest Page and then click the “Enter Contest” button to upload your entry for the contest.After which you can spread the word and ask your family and friends to vote for your video and grab a chance to win awesome prizes.

The contest ends on 22nd of March and the Judging will end on 31st of March.Checkout the Complete Rules and Regulations of the Contest Here.

Surface Pro gets 1/10 Repairability Score by iFixit !

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When the Surface RT launched a few months ago,it got a Teardown from iFixit,to see how repairable is the new Surface RT tablet,as a result the new Microsoft tablet got a rating of 4/10 repairability from iFixit.

Image Credits[iFixit]

So now after the release of Surface Pro tablet which was launched quite recently,it was time to get a Teardown from iFixit.As reported earlier by Microsoft-News,iFixit recently tear downed the Surface Pro which is powered by Intel based Core i5 Processor and runs on Windows 8 Pro.The Device got a iFixit repairability rating of 1/10(with 10 being the easiest one to repair).If we compare the Surface Pro with the New iPad it has got 2/10 iFixit repairability rating.

Here’s why the Surface Pro got such a low repairability rating by iFixit,

The battery is not soldered to the motherboard, so at least no soldering is required to replace it.
The SSD is removable — but you risk killing your tablet by trying to open it.
There are over 90 screws inside this device. We’re proponents of mechanical fasteners, but this number is a tad crazy.
The display assembly (comprising of a fused glass and LCD) is extremely difficult to remove/replace.
Tons of adhesive hold everything in place, including the display and battery.
Unless you perform the opening procedure 100% correctly, chances are you’ll shear one of the four cables surrounding the display perimeter.

Source[iFixit],Via[Microsoft-News]

Surface Pro 128GB Goes Out Of stock within Hours of Official Launch

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Microsoft officially launched the Surface Pro yesterday and within hours of the launch the 128 GB variant of the Windows 8 tablet from Microsoft priced at $999 is out of stock in US online store.

Earlier we got reports about the 64GB version of the surface Pro was listed as out of stock,but now it seems like they have some more 64GB Surface Pro in their inventory,but the 128GB version is still out of stock.

Similar thing happened during the surface RT launch,but due to poor distribution strategy the device put a dismal show in the last quarter as per some surveys.will the Surface Pro emerge as a strong competitor for the likes of iPads and Nexus 7′s or not?We will have our answer in coming months.

If you are planning on buying a surface Pro device,then head over to Microsoft store before the device goes out of stock again!

Surface RT Coming to 13 more Countries on 14th February

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As we all know Microsoft is releasing the Surface Pro version starting today in the Microsoft’s Retail Stores,Online Microsoft Store,Staples and Best Buy across United States and Canada.

Along with that Microsoft announced in their press release that the Surface RT version will also see a major rollout on14th February,with Surface RT launching in as many as 13 countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

They also recalled the new available offers with new accessories,while the 64GB Standalone version of the Surface RT will be available for $599 giving users the choice to select the touch/type cover of their liking with new limited available Touch Covers in Red,Cyan and Magenta available for $129.99.There’s also a Wedge Mouse Surface Edition which costs around $69.95.

Checkout the Official Press Release for more details.

Surface Pro AMA Session Answers Hints at Battery Packs Add-on

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Surface Pro is all set for the release on February 9.The Big brother of Surface RT will run on an Intel Core i5 processor and will be running on Windows 8 Operating System.

A couple of months ago we reported that Surface Pro may have a battery life of around 4 hours(almost half of that of Surface RT) which is disappointing battery life for a Tablet as compared to the likes of iPad which provides 10 hours of battery life.But it seems like Microsoft has plans to improve the battery life of Surface Pro with Battery Pack Add -ons.

In a recent AMA Session on Reddit a user questioned about the mysterious connectors on the bottom of the surface pro,here’s what the Surface Team had to say,

Wow – I’m pumped you caught that – we haven’t announced what they are for but they aren’t an accident! At launch we talked about the “accessory spine” and hinted at future peripherals that can click in and do more. Those connectors look like can carry more current than the pogo pins, don’t they?

Another user asked a question about the external battery or a keyboard which doubles up as a battery to which the Surface Team Replied,

That would require extending the design of the accessory spine to include some way to transfer higher current between the peripheral and the main battery. Which we did..

So we can expect some exciting accessories for the Surface Pro in coming months,which would further boost the Surface Pro sells.

Source[Reddit],Via[Neowin]

[Report]Around 200 million Workers Would Choose Windows 8 as their Next Tablet!

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Microsoft launched the Windows 8 platform eyeing the Tablet market which is currently lead by apple iPad and though its still early days to talk about the impact of Windows 8 tablets in the worldwide market share,but according to some new reports from Forrester Windows 8 tablet future looks bright.

According to their latest reports,over 32% of their surveyed workers favoured Windows 8 as their next Tablet operating system choice as compared to 26% who chose iPad as their next tablet,with around 12% choosing the third alternative Android tablets as their choice.

Only thing which could question the legitimacy of this report is the number of workers polled for this survey.In this survey Forrester polled around 9766 workers,so to project these numbers to a larger scale like a country or even bigger population is always a factor to be taken into consideration.So with these less numbers we can’t predict that around 200million people would go on to buy the Windows 8 tablet.

If this is really a trend in the Workers then we would see it reflect upon the upcoming Surface Pro devices which are slated for launch in a couple of days time.

Via[ReadWrite]