The rumor mill sure has picked up some serious speed these past few weeks. It has been almost a year since Microsoft first spilled the beans for its Surface tablets.
It was a significant event for the world’s largest software company — one that signaled a shift in strategy from Redmond in its bid to become a devices and services company. Now with two Surface tablets out in the wild, the public is keen to see what new hardware emerges bearing Microsoft’s logo.
Redmond may recently have said no to a Surface Phone, what with Nokia’s remarkable success with its Lumia lineup, but a refresh of Surface RT and Surface Pro seems inevitable this year.
Now the perennially hit-or-miss DigiTimes, citing its infamous sources from the upstream supply chain, claims that Microsoft is planning to unveil the second generation of its Surface tablets at the BUILD developer conference in June.
And sales are expected to begin shortly after that.
The rumors now point to new 7 and 9 inch tablets — even though an 8-inch slate was previously hinted. A 7-inch model makes sense, but one sporting a 9-inch display? Come on!
Why would Microsoft cut down on display size, when it has perfectly good 10-inch solutions?
Irrespective of the display sizes and form factors, there is a fair enough chance that Microsoft will showcase some sort of a hardware device running Windows 8.1, whether it be the next generation Surface tablets or a Surface Mini slate.
It further appears that Microsoft is a bit more cautious with new Surface tablets this time around, in terms of production, though it will stick with the same suppliers as it did for the first generation devices.
Meaning Surface 2 tablets will be assembled by Pegatron Technology.
Samsung and LG will handle the displays, while LG Chem will take care of the batteries, while both Intel and NVIDIA are said to offer the processors. Chicony Electronics and Youngfast will provide keyboards and touch panels, respectively.
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