The Microsoft Surface 2 4G LTE finally hit the retail shelves in the UK as the company kept its promise of shipping the tablet on May 8 to its British market, following pre-orders initiated in April this year.
The Surface 2 AT&T 4G LTE tablet was earlier available in the U.S., March 18, from Microsoft online stores, BestBuy mobile and commercial resellers before being rolled out in the UK market.
"Surface has become a powerful tool in the lives of this incredibly diverse group of people. There are students, parents, artists, architects, photographers, writers, and business people of all stripes who have come to love Surface because it is the tablet that lets them do more, and I love hearing the creative ways you're using Surface," Panos Panay , corporate vice president at Microsoft Surface, says in a previous blog post.
The Surface 2 4G LTE tablet for British market comes unlocked that allows customers to purchase the 4G SIM from any mobile operator or network provider in the UK. It is nearly the same as the earlier Surface 2 model, but with a couple of modifications: high-speed Internet connectivity and weight of 10 grams more. With such add-ons, the tablet is priced at £539.
Other features of the LTE-powered Surface 2 tab include 64GB storage, optional keyboard, built-in kickstand, free one-year Skype calls, 200GB OneDrive, previously known as SkyDrive, cloud storage, dual 3.5MP front and 5MP cameras, microSD card slot storage. Nvidia Tegra 4 processor powers the tablet. It runs on Windows 8.1 RT that brings along Microsoft Office Home and Student 2014.
Further research, however, suggests that Microsoft is said to announce a new generation of the Surface tablets, including a much talked about Surface Mini, on May 20 in a press event. The Mini version, in particular, is allegedly going to run under Qualcomm CPU and is aiming to compete with Apple's iPad Mini. It will feature an 8-inch touchscreen supported by a stylus.
Regardless, the rumored possible releases of new Surface 2 versions still put this current 4G LTE-powered device in an unstable position in the market, analysts say.
Although the current high-speed tablet is priced at £539, EE subscribers may get the Microsoft Surface 2 4G LTE tablet for an initial price of £99 under a two-year contract, giving 8GB data for £36 a month to subscribers. The tablet is available at Microsoft online store, PC World, Currys and Dixons.
