Microsoft Surface 3 4G UK Launch To Target Businesses

The Microsoft Surface 3 4G will go on sale to businesses and the public sector in the UK on Friday July 3 from O2, which has a three month exclusivity period on the tablet.

The device is available to SMBs for as little as £50 up front and then £27.67 a month on a two year contract, and comes in 64GB and 128GB configurations, both of which can be expanded by up to 128GB using a MicroSD card slot.

The Windows 8.1-powered Surface 3 has a 10.1-inch touchscreen, eight megapixel rear camera, 3.5 megapixel front-facing camera, 1.6GHz quad-core processor and USB 3.0 port, and Microsoft sees it appealing to businesses who need employees to be able to work on the move and deliver presentations.

Business enthusiasm

Both the 4G and Wi-Fi-only models will be upgradable to Windows 10 when it is released as a free update later this month.

“We see particular excitement for our LTE-enabled Surface 3 with businesses and their sales forces, which is why this initial announcement is focused on business availability,” explained Brian Hall, general manager of Surface at Microsoft. “We’re already hearing from customers that have deployed Surface Pro 3 that sellers are saving hours per week in many cases. Having a more mobile option in Surface 3 (4G LTE) is only going to create more opportunities.”

The launch of the 4G Surface 3 follows on from the release of the Wi-Fi only model in May. Like the more expensive, business-oriented Surface Pro 3, the third generation of Microsoft’s standard Surface is billed as the tablet that can replace your laptop, offering the battery life and portability of the former with the ports and functionality of the latter.

Microsoft said its previous successful partnerships with O2 in the past are the reason why it has chosen the operator as a launch partner this time round.

O2 exclusivity

“We have had a very successful partnership with O2 for many years and we are delighted to be working exclusively with them on such a major launch,” said Dale Perrigo, director of Surface UK.

O2 is offering 50 percent off a Surface keyboard for those who purchase it alongside Office 365, McAfee Multi Access or Windows Intune, and will also offer the tablet to enterprise and public sector customers through its managed mobility portfolio.

“We’re proud to be the first to market in the UK with the Microsoft Surface 3 4G,” said Ben Dowd, O2 Business Director. “At O2 we’re always looking for ways to give our customers the best in class digital products, services and applications, so they can experience the benefits of having the latest technology at the heart of their business. The Microsoft Surface family is a fantastic example of this and I hope our customers are as excited as we are to start using the new devices.”

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