2nd Generation of Microsoft Surface available for pre-order today

November 17, 2011 By Mike Dunn

The next-generation of Microsoft Surface the Samsung SUR40 is now available for pre-order. The 4 inch thick touch interface computer is thin and light enough to be hung on a wall.

Have you always wanted a Microsoft Surface but haven’t had the $14,000 to buy one? Starting today you are able to pre-order the new SUR40, aka: Surface 2, for about half that price. While it is still a very expensive piece of hardware, it is also one of the most impressive pieces of hardware we have seen.

The Surface was first announced in 2007, and was a massive table sized computer with a built in camera powered touch screen. The latest version that was announced at CES is built by Samsung, and is thin and light enough to be hung on a wall. The SUR40 has a 40 inch screen under a massive piece of Gorilla Glass. Samsung was able to shrink the size of the SUR40 thanks to something called PixelSense, which turns an LCD display to also act as a camera. This allows the Surface to not only act as a touchscreen, but also to see what is touching the screen.

Under the screen there is a dual-core AMD Athlon processor paired with an AMD GPU. This combo allows Surface to handle up to 50 simultaneous touch points, and still output a pretty picture. The SUR40 is available for pre-order through Samsung, but don’t expect to see these hitting retail stores. At this price point it will most likely remain a special order product with the focus on commercial installments.

We have included a video below that shows off just how impressive the SUR40 is in action. Sadly the SUR40 will not be available until early 2012, so you won’t be able to put it on your holiday wish list this year.

Showing 3 comments

Ian Bell at 4:59pm 17th November 2011 So what are some ways that the MS Surface can be used in real world ways? How would doctors use it for example?
1. jesterking at 7:26am 18th November 2011 I used to work for a Dr's office for 5 years... The only thing I could ever see them using something like this for would be to look at image manipulation (xrays, ct scans, etc.) or patient charts. Though the latter might be a bit over the top and against HIPAA compliance. For imaging it might be pretty cool. Manipulation of three dimensional images. But this isn't something that couldn't be done on a regular computer... Considering that most doctors offices are fairly cramped, I would also assume this would have to be integrated into their counter tops somehow. I see this as just one of those "Ooooh aaaaah" factors that doctors would like to have to impress their patients.
  1. jesterking at 7:30am 18th November 2011 Oh yeah, and when I worked for that Dr's office, we were the most advanced ENT in the tri-state area. That includes NYC. I could see the Dr's wanting this, but that's only because their like everyone else... They want a new toy. It wouldn't be justifiable though.