If reports are to be believed then Microsoft is working towards adding 4G/LTE to its Surface tablet.
The claim that Microsoft officials made last year of coming up with an ARM-based Surface 2 tablet with LTE wireless connectivity in early 2014 is nearing its reality. Microsoft executives last year said that an LTE-enabled Surface 2 can be expected to debut on AT&T and Vodafone.
They made it clear at that time that the device that would get LTE wireless connectivity would be an ARM-based device, not an Intel-based one and that “Windows RT will…be a strong platform for tablets that come with 3G/4G capability.”
In a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing, a “portable computing device” that appears like a 10-inch Surface with AT&T-native LTE and HSPA data support has emerged. This is a possible indication that a new Surface model with 4G/LTE support is surely on its way.
As per FCC documents, the device was tested with Windows RT 8.1 which means the device is a Windows RT-based Surface tablet and not the Surface Pro, as the Surface Pro runs on full-blown Windows 8.1.
Also, in a reddit AMA held in September last year, corporate VP of Surface at Microsoft and Surface team members, Panos Panay, said that a future Surface product would have LTE.
The company’s Surface 2 tablet features a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 4 processor, a 10.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display, and weighs 1.5 pounds.
Microsoft declined to comment on the availability of LTE-enabled Surface 2 tablet.
Why won’t Microsoft offer broadband on its Surface Pro tablet? There is no top of the line Windows tablet with broadband. With all the familiar applications that come on a Windows tablet, Microsoft could own the business market if they provided 4G/LTE connectivity.