Microsoft to Launch LTE Versions of Surface 2 Tablet in 2014

 

Microsoft announced it has partnered with AT&T and Vodafone to launch LTE service for the company's Surface 2 tablet.  To date, the Surface tablets (one Intel-powered and running Windows 8; the other NVIDIA-powered and running Windows RT) have only had Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.  The additional of LTE service is expected to bring more attention to the company's 2nd-generation Windows RT slate, dubbed Surface 2, announced recently.  Microsoft has so far not announced mobile broadband modem support for its Surface Pro 2 Windows 8.1 tablet.

As Microsoft is currently acquiring the mobile device business of Nokia, it will be interesting to see what role tablets play in Nokia's product announcements later this month.  Most of Microsoft's Windows RT licensees have ceased marketing tablets using the OS, though it goes without saying that Nokia's close relationship with Microsoft on Windows Phone for smartphones may become a strategy for Windows RT 8.1 tablets as well.