Microsoft Already Working On Surface 2 [Rumor]

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The Surface is serious about taking on the iPad.
The Surface is serious about taking on the iPad.

Microsoft’s first tablet won’t reach customers until later this, but the company is already working on Surface 2. According to job adverts posted on its Microsoft Careers site between June and August, the company is “currently building the next generation” of “devices that fully express the Windows vision.”

The adverts, which were spotted by TechRadar, read:

The Surface Team focuses on lighting up Microsoft experiences with touch first computing. A fundamental part of our strategy is having desirable and powerful devices that enable the experiences people want, and elicit their excitement. Creating these devices involves a close partnership between hardware and software engineers, designers, and manufacturing. We are currently building the next generation and Surface needs you!

One of the adverts calls for a mechanical engineer with an “understanding of touch display architecture and experience in mechanical integration of large touch displays into electronics products.”

The mention of “large touch displays” suggests Microsoft could be working on a successor to its 80-inch Perceptive Pixel display, but TechRadar notes that the engineers will be required to work on “the electrical design and qualification of AC-DC power supplies and adapters,” which are only needed to charge battery-powered devices. Microsoft certainly isn’t going to release an 80-inch Surface powered by a battery.

What these adverts show is that Microsoft isn’t just working on the next Surface, but rather putting together a dedicated team that will ensure the Surface can compete with the iPad for years to come. It doesn’t plan on bowing out when the going gets tough; it’s in it for the long haul.

Microsoft is looking for mechanical engineers, component specialists, materials experts, driver developers, audio engineers, manufacturing and packaging designers, and more. That’s in addition to the engineers and designers that have already produced the first Surface.

It wants to work with “new materials including metals, ceramics, plastics and thin films,” and “finishing processes such as paint, plating and PVD.” A Microsoft has already revealed that the company wants the Surface to be as gorgeous and as luxurious as the iPad, and this shows it’s committed to making that happen.

It’s also looking at “alternative power sources,” which could see Surface tablets with new battery technologies.

This dedicated team could provide a family of Surface devices in different sizes, which are refreshed every year — like the iPad. That’s great for Windows fans and consumers, but it’s not good news for PC vendors. The likes of Samsung — and any other company who wants to build a Windows 8 tablet — will now have to compete with Microsoft.

Source: TechRadar

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