Hasta La Gadget!

When it comes to the world of tablets, Microsoft is definitely not one of the first names that you would think of. After all, the tablet market is currently dominated by a couple of names – Apple’s iOS as well as the Android mobile operating system from Google, whereas Microsoft has just entered the tablet arena recently. In terms of success, it really depends on which particular viewpoint you are looking from. The original Surface tablet did hold some promise at first, but it did not quite make the kind of impact as expected. Good to know that Microsoft is not a company that gives up easily. Take the Xbox for example – it basically was a no-show in Japan when it first released, but they have had moderate success with the Xbox 360 when it came out in that region. The Surface tablet situation can be somewhat attributed to a similar manner, where it did not sell that much at all, so it is not surprising to see that Microsoft has recently announced the Surface 2 tablet.

Enhancements have been made to Windows 8.1 RT which runs on the Microsoft Surface 2 tablet, making sure that it is even more powerful and customizable. If you have decided to pick up the Surface 2, then you will be pleased to hear that there are additonial goodies that have been thrown into the mix – where they include free Skype calling to landlines in over 60 countries for an entire year, unlimited Skype Wi-Fi at over 2 million hotspots worldwide for one year, in addition to 200GB of free SkyDrive storage that can last for a good two years.

The Surface 2 runs on an NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor, where it will also be accompanied by a 10.6-inch ClearType Full HD display which does 1080p video, featuring a full-size USB 3.0 port, a 3.5-megapixel camera in front, a 5-megapixel camera at the back, and coming in a slightly thinner and lighter form factor compared to its predecessor. The Surface 2 will arrive in 32GB and 64GB configurations, with prices starting from $449.

Press Release
[ Microsoft Surface 2 tablet hopes to make an impact copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

For long Nokia was rumored to be working on a tablet. Earlier this week the Finnish manufacturer finally unveiled its first tablet, the Nokia Lumia 2520. Despite the fact that it is currently under the process of being acquired by Microsoft, Nokia’s new tablet puts it in direct competition with Redmond’s new offering, the Surface 2. We’ve no doubt been wondering exactly how both tablets stack up against each other and Raj Talluri, SVP of product management at Qualcomm presents an interesting perspective. He believes that “its not even really a contest,” between the Lumia 2520 and Surface 2 when it comes to performance.

Obviously one can expect Talluri’s perspective to lean a bit towards the Lumia 2520, considering the fact that it is powered by a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quadcore processor whereas Microsoft opted for a 1.7GHz NVIDIA Tegra 4 for the Surface 2. Talluri says that performance on Nokia’s new tablet is “brilliant,” and that there’s no contest with the Surface 2 “in every area.” Both tablets are powered by Windows RT 8.1. We’ve can’t really have a side-by-side comparison of the performance of both tablets until they’re both available, to really see which one stands out. Microsoft released the Surface 2 on October 22nd, but we’ll have to wait for the Lumia 2520, as Nokia has still not provided a concrete release date for its new tablet.

Qualcomm Doesn’t See A ‘Contest’ Between Lumia 2520 And Surface 2 original content from Ubergizmo.

It is nice to hear that Microsoft has just introduced a new firmware and driver pack for its Microsoft Surface Pro 2, especially when we also heard of news that the Surface Pro 2 is available not only in the US alone, but also in 20 other additional countries as recently as three days ago. Of course, in order to obtain this firmware and driver pack for the Windows 8.1 device, you will need to head on to the Microsoft Download site and sniff it out.

The file would weigh in at 158.1MB where it comes in a ZIP format, and it has been described to contain “drivers for all of the components in the Surface Pro 2 device, as well as updates to the system firmware that have been released via Windows Update.” If you were to translate that to plain English, it would mean that should something go awry with your Surface Pro 2 tablet during or after installation, you will be able to take advantage of the manual download so that you can restore the Surface Pro 2 back to when it was right after its launch.

Do bear in mind that Microsoft has also rolled out a separate file update already for Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2, where these would definitely go some way in improving the overall reliability of Internet Explorer 11. [Download Page]

Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Firmware And Driver Pack Released original content from Ubergizmo.

Microsoft unveiled two new tablets last month, the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, which will offer some much-needed improvements over their original tablet counterparts, the Surface RT and Surface Pro. If you were interested in either the Surface 2 or Surface Pro 2, today is your lucky day as both tablets are now available to order not only in the U.S., but in 20 other countries around the world. (more…)

Surface 2, Surface Pro 2 Now Available In U.S., 20 Additional Countries original content from Ubergizmo.

The Surface RT was Microsoft’s brassy if ultimately flawed attempt to do a cannonball into the placid, iPad and Kindle-dominated tablet pool. It didn’t quite work out. With the Surface 2, Microsoft is taking the opportunity to say "No guys, but really," with a blistering, scary sort of confidence.

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