Microsoft’s next gen Surface goes up for pre-order

SOFTWARE HOUSE Microsoft has announced that its next version of Surface is available to pre-order via Samsung in 23 countries at £8,999.

The Samsung SUR40 device designed for Microsoft Surface features a 40in touchscreen with full high definition 1920x1080 resolution. The design is more slender now, with a table style rather than a huge box, with more compact hardware and updated software.

Somanna Palacanda, director of Microsoft Surface said, "Customers across a wide range of industries currently integrate Microsoft Surface and make it relevant to their business needs, creating immersive, collaborative and meaningful experiences."

It uses a dual-core AMD 2.9GHz Athlon X2 245e processor, an AMD HD6750M graphics card and 4GB of DDR3 RAM to drive the unit. Created with interaction in mind, it uses Pixelsense technology that allows Surface to support up to 50 simultaneous touch points, which can be fingers, hands or objects.

The more compact and stylish design allows the new Surface device to be wall mounted or placed more creatively compared to the brick like lump that was the original Surface unit.

Charles Park, VP at Samsung said, "The Samsung SUR40 delivers a unique interactive experience that will significantly change the way companies engage with their customers."

The Surface 2.0 software development kit (SDK) allows developers to create applications for Surface using features such as Input Simulation from a Windows 7 PC.

The device is quite niche, but Microsoft and Samsung hope the new design will make it more appealing to potential customers. It thinks the device could be used in education, financial and professional services, healthcare, hospitality, retail, manufacturing and resources.

With stricter budgets in sectors like education and healthcare we think it would be unlikely for them to opt for a Surface unit, but retail is a sector that tends to trial and adopt this kind of technology. With a hefty price tag of £8,999 we think it will be limited to flagship retail stores and other high-end establishments. µ