Tag Archives: SurfaceRt

Surface RT 32GB gets price cut to $349 at Staples, starting July 14th

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Surface RT 16GB gets price cut to $349 at Staples, starting July 14th

It didn't take long for us to grab some important details (well, a time and a place) about an incoming Surface RT price cut. Our source has forwarded a Staples ad -- and working link -- which reveals that a $150 price cut on the entry-level 32GB Surface RT will start this Sunday 14th July. No word on a discounted Touch Cover option, however, at least not from Staples, but we'll fill you in if there's other retailers jumping on the discount.

(Thanks, Brandon!)

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Source: Staples (1), (2)

Substantial price cut for Surface RT rumored (updated)

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Microsoft might not be seeing the sales numbers it hoped to for its Surface RT, because according to The Verge, it's readying substantial price cuts across its debut tablet. In short, the cheapest option (a 32GB Surface RT) could reach $350, while adding a Touch Cover will land at $100 more to $450. Doubling storage to 64GB will cost $450, while another hundred bucks will add a Touch Cover there. We've been in touch with Microsoft, who told us that it "doesn't comment on rumor and speculation," so it's certainly not set in stone. We'll let you know when we see an official confirmation.

Update: Staples has confirmed the price cut is coming -- this Sunday!

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Source: The Verge

Bloomberg: Next Surface RT will use Qualcomm chip, may come in multiple versions

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Bloomberg Next Surface RT will use Qualcomm chip, come in multiple versions

How's about this for a coincidence? We've just benchmarked the Snapdragon 800 reference tablet, with some very nice results, and now Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft will use a Qualcomm chip in its next refresh of the Surface RT. The report, based on insider sources, doesn't stretch to detailing whether we'll be looking at the flagship 800 processor specifically, but such a choice would tally with a previous statement from Qualcomm, and it'd also seem like a logical upgrade for the current hybrid which runs on NVIDIA's Tegra 3 and already feels underpowered. As for NVIDIA, the same unconfirmed report suggests that the company will still have a role to play as a supplier "for some versions" of Microsoft's product. That's a curious notion, because it implies we might see multiple iterations of the Surface RT to suit different price points or markets (e.g., those with or without LTE), and at least one version of those could house a Tegra 4. Or it could simply be a diplomatic way of saying that the existing RT products will continue to be sold and supported for a while. Either way, if Microsoft doesn't implement the full force of Snapdragon, someone else hopefully will.

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Source: Bloomberg

Microsoft offering Surface RT tablets for $199 to educational institutions

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Microsoft offering Surface RT tablets for $199 to educational institutions

If you thought Microsoft's effort to push Surface RT tablets into classrooms would stop with a 10,000-unit giveaway, you'd be mistaken. Ryan Lowdermilk, a technology evangelist for the company, revealed that it's offering 32GB Surface RT slates to K-12 and higher education institutions in 25 countries for $199, more than 50 percent off the $499 retail sticker price. Dropping $249 for each unit will snag organizations keyboard-infused Touch Covers, while bumping the cost to $289 will add Type Covers to the package. Education outfits can take advantage of the deal until August 31st (or while supplies last), but individual students won't be able to snag a Surface at such a deep discount on their own. The post announcing the program has gone offline since its unveiling, but we've reached out to Lowdermilk to confirm that the offer is still valid. In the meantime, you can hit the second source link to snatch an order form for school administrators.

Update: It appears the order form has been pulled, so we've replaced the second source link with a mirror of the document.

[Thanks, Suraj-Sun]

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Source: Ryan Lowdermilk (Google Cache), Surface for Education Order Form (PDF)

Refresh Roundup: week of June 10th, 2013

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Refresh Roundup week of June 10th, 2013

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

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Microsoft will give 10,000 Surface tablets to educators attending ISTE

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With the Windows in the Classroom Surface Experience Project, Microsoft is determined to prove its commitment to education -- and gain some positive publicity for its Surface tablets along the way. The company will be giving away Surface RTs to the first 10,000 registrants for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference in San Antonio this June. To put that rather impressive number into perspective, ISTE is expecting to host over 13,000 individual educators and 500 exhibiting technology companies. While it's entirely possible that this massive giveaway is a simple inventory write-off, we sunny optimists like to think that Microsoft is doing it out of the good of its heart. For more information, you can check out the full press release after the break.

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Windows RT to come with Outlook app starting with Windows 8.1 update

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Windows RT to come with Outlook app starting with Windows 8.1 update

We weren't expecting Microsoft to make too many announcements here at Computex -- it's got Build coming up, after all -- but it did drop a little bit of news. The company just confirmed that Windows RT tablets will come with an Outlook app pre-installed starting with the Windows 8.1 update. Not much more to share today -- we already knew Windows 8.1 would arrive in preview on June 26th -- but hopefully we'll learn more at the Build developer conference in a few weeks. After all, as much as Microsoft has already revealed about Windows 8.1, it's said very little about RT, specifically.

Update: The official Surface blog does have a bit more information to share, mentioning that an update is coming "in about a week" to improve the Touch Cover and Type Cover keyboard accessories. Once that update arrives, there will be a few function key combos to trigger things like brightness (Fn + Del / Backspace), page navigation or toggle the function keys to charms, volume, etc (Fn + Caps). Check the post for a full list of commands.

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Source: Office Blog, Surface Blog

The Daily Roundup for 05.31.2013

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DNP The Daily RoundUp

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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Microsoft promo: buy a Surface RT, get a free keyboard cover (updated)

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Microsoft promo buy a Surface RT, get a free Touch or Type Cover

There's no question that the Surface RT comes into its own with a keyboard cover; we can't imagine using the tablet unadorned. Microsoft can't, either, as it's launching a promo that gives the covers away. Americans and Canadians who buy the Windows RT slate between now and the end of June can get either the Touch Cover or the Type Cover for free, no matter which color they fancy. Surface Pro customers are out of luck, but it's hard to dispute the value for prospective Surface RT owners -- the deal amounts to at least a $100 discount on the touch PC's real-world price.

Update: To be clear, this promo has been running in other countries; it's just now debuting in North America, however.

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Via: CNET

Source: Microsoft Store

Refresh Roundup: week of May 13th, 2013

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Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

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