14 DAY TRIAL // With so many rumors on the second-generation Surface tablet swirling around, it was only a matter of time until a Microsoftie decided to at least hint at a potential overhaul of the company’s first such device.
Microsoft strategic education partner lead Mark Stewart talked about the company’s plans on the Surface during the TechEd 2013 conference, suggesting that major improvements for this tablet are on their way.
“What I'm trying to say is Surface RT is a great device, particularly in the primary space, and gives you a little bit more that you could use at other educational levels too,” Stewart was quoted as saying by Computing.
“[The tablet works with] all 80,000 apps in the Windows 8 app store,” he continued.
What’s more, Microsoft’s exec praised the way the Surface tablet tackles the educational industry, saying that many schools, teachers, and students out there choose to purchase the device instead of an iPad or an Android unit.
“We do see a lot of pure tablet technology being introduced into schools that's failing big time. And that's largely because consumerisation is driving it,” he explained.
“The primary space, where we are particularly looking at curriculum-based applications to teach, say, math; we've been going out to schools and looking at apps they use, and we've seen that being able to use that makes a huge difference. Have we got it 100 per cent? There's always room for improvement.”
Word is that Microsoft is already working on a second-generation Surface tablet that would also include an 8-inch unit specifically designed to compete with the likes of iPad mini and Nexus 7.
The tech giant is yet to confirm it, but it appears that an official announcement on such a project could be announced during the BUILD developer conference next week, which is also scheduled to witness the public debut of Windows 8.1 Preview.