While shipments numbers and sales statistics may be a bit on the disappoint side of things, Surface RT still remains the most popular Windows 8 tablet on the market, according to AdDuplex at least.
However, at the same time Microsoft is no longer the number one makers of Windows powered slates.
The technology titan is expected to be preparing a major refresh of its tablet lineup, which is said to include a new, smaller tablet with an 8-inch display. And according to the latest figures published by AdDuplex, Microsoft has already started testing second-generation Surface units.
AdDuplex says that these two brand new products are called Microsoft Corporation Surface 2 and Microsoft Surface with Windows 8.1 Pro — yup, you guessed it, upgrade for both the Surface RT and the Pro, respectively.
The company wrote on its blog:
“The first one definitely looks like a new device, but the second one theoretically could be just a change in what Surface Pro with Windows 8.1 installed reports.
That said, as far as we can tell, the preview version of 8.1 didn’t change the reported string. So it’s either the RTM (or just a later build) that did that or it’s a new version of Surface Pro altogether.”
Hmmm, interesting, very interesting!
No mention of a Surface Mini, as of yet, and unless we have more data to go by (including screen resolutions, which are not reported), we cannot really tell. Two Nokia tablets, however, also showed up in these latest round of statistics, and we should hear more about them next month.
But as far as the second-generation Surface tablets are concerned, previous reports have suggested that these new devices are set to be unveiled by the end of the year — increasingly likely in October, together with Windows 8.1.
All Comments
I think they need to come up with a different name other than Windows RT. When RT and Windows Phone merge, maybe it shouldn’t even be called Windows. Maybe it should be called Surface OS or something else. Full Windows OS will simply be called Windows, and the OS that runs on phones and budget tablets could be called something else.
I agree they did not get “RT” and “PRO” correct. I think some geek told the marketing department what to call these and most of the public has been confused ever since then! Even something as simple as the “MS Tablet” (or something similar) for the RT would have been more straight forward and people would have known what it is. The name “Surface” is perfect and should be reserved for just the ‘Pro” version (as in “I brought my Surface with me so we can crunch those numbers”. As for the phone, Windows or Windows Phone is a good name to go up against Android and iPhone, especially if they go up against Chrome with their similarities on their devices. Everyone says “I’ve got a iPhone” (iPhone almost sounds like two words) or “I’ve got a Samsung Android” (two words) just like they would say “I’ve got a Nokia Windows” (two words) …but they do have to add “phone” afterwards. Yes, having a unique word for the Windows Phone OS would be good. Whatever it is, it should be easy to say (unlike “Binging”….but that’s a comment for another article…..!)