One thing you may have missed during the second generation Surface launch event yesterday would be the support for 3G/LTE connectivity for the impressive Microsoft slates.
This was always on the cards — NVIDIA, for some odd reason, decided not to include 3G connectivity on its Tegra 4 processors, though the mobile oriented Tegra 4i processors do come with these options. Nevertheless, since Tegra 4 powers the Surface 2, the refreshed devices do not offer 3G or LTE options.
WiFi connectivity is your best bet if you get your hands on the new Surface 2 slate.
Microsoft, has however, confirmed that the Surface 2 with LTE will be launched next year. Panos Panay, the man heading up the Surface division at the company, confirmed this in a short message in an AMA session on Reddit, explaining:
“We didn’t talk about it today, but Surface 2 will be launching an awesome LTE SKU early next year!”
Awesomeness confirmed, eh?
Since no other details have been provided, what is not clear for now is whether Microsoft will be bringing LTE support on the Surface 2, Surface Pro 2 or both.
Either way, an addition like this is great news for buyers, particularly if these LTE enabled models fly in early next year. They should provide enhanced productivity on the go, considering dongles still do not work perfectly with Windows RT due to driver support, or lack of it thereof.
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I guess I’ll wait on the LTE version, if I don’t move away from this dumb carrier trying to keep people from wi-fi tethering.