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Microsoft: Surface tablet with LTE wireless coming in 2014

Microsoft will be adding an LTE-enabled Surface to its line-up next year, officials are confirming.
Written by Mary Jo Foley, Senior Contributing Editor

Microsoft will be introducing a version of its Surface that will support LTE "early next year," according to company officials.

suface2

During the Surface 2 launch in New York on September 23, Microsoft rolled out two new Surface devices: A Tegra 4 ARM system (Surface 2) and an Intel Haswell Core i5 (Surface Pro 2). Neither of those devices supports LTE; they are both WiFi-only devices.

But Microsoft isn't ignoring calls for an LTE-wireless-enabled Surface device. On a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on September 23, Surface chief Panos Panay said this type of device is coming in early 2014. His exact answer about LTE availability on Surface. Panay's response:

"We didn't talk about it today, but Surface 2 will be launching an awesome LTE SKU early next year!"

I've heard from one of my contacts that Microsoft might be considering a bundle of Windows Phone and Surface to address markets where the lack of built-in wireless support for Surface may be an issue.

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