A new report suggests that Microsoft doesn't want to get left behind again for future tech the way they were with smartphones. The lastest intel suggests Microsoft plans to launch a branded smartwatch to compete with the rumored Apple iWatch and Samsung's admitted smartwatch. Supposedly, Microsoft is already working with Far East suppliers to work out the logistics of building the device. No other details were given at this time.

What do you guys think? Would you by a Microsoft SurfaceWatch?

Source: BGR

According to the WSJ, Microsoft plans a new lineup of Microsoft tablets including a 7 inch model expected to start production later in 2013. Microsoft has found itself without a 7 inch slate to go up against the large number of low-priced 7 inch Android tablets like the Google Nexus 7. According to IDC, half of the tablets that shipped in the fourth quarter were under 8 inches.

A source familiar with Microsoft's plans says that a 7 inch tablet wasn't even on the company's radar last year, but executives at the Redmond based firm realized that it had no response for the lower priced Android slates and for the iOS flavored Apple iPad mini, which carries a 7.9 inch screen. Executives also have gone on the record to admit that its product lineup doesn't include a low-priced touchscreen product.

Continue Reading @: WSJ says new Microsoft Surface tablets are coming including 7 inch model

Ladies and gentlemen we have picked our random winner, but first, we'd like to extend a sincere thank-you to everyone who entered the giveaway and the entire community here at Surface Forums.net. You all are what make these forums the premier resource for the Microsoft Surface! With that said, lets announce the winner of the Pen, Sleeve and Micro SD shall we? The winner is......drum roll.......

jnjroach!!

Congratulations jnjroach! We hope you enjoy these great gifts!!

Until next time............

What a better way to kick off April Fools than a legitimate giveaway right? Don't know how we make that jump but lets run with it. Yes folks, we are actually going to be giving away three (3) cool little gifts to one (1) lucky winner and it is not an April Fools Joke. What do we have on tap for the giveaway? How about a Surface Pen, ProStyle™ Sleeve, and a Sandisk Ultra 32GB Class 10 Micro SD Card with SD Adapter! Now that's a pretty nifty little giveaway.

Now the big question, how do you enter to get a chance at winning one of these prizes? Share a list of your top three paid/unpaid apps on your Surface Tablet. Thats it? Yes, that it!! The contest will close this Monday, April 8 at 12:00PM Central. The winner will be chosen at random later that day.

Do not wait any longer, enter today! Good luck!

Microsoft's Surface Pro will mark its first venture outside the cozy confines of the Americas by heading to China on April 2nd, according to its Weibo site. That could also mean that lovers of the convertible tablet in Australia, parts of Europe and elsewhere might also be able to grab one soon -- as Redmond indicated earlier that it would roll out in those countries around the same time.

Continue Reading @: China to get first official taste of Surface Pro outside of North America

Microsoft definitely has something to be proud about in the new Microsoft Surface Cover/Keyboard, and they are fully aware of it. They just won a design patent for the technology. Here's a quote with more details,

The USPTO granted a trio of patents today for the touch/type cover keyboard design on Redmond's tablet, including its "ornamental design for an electronic tablet with input device coupling," as Microsoft described the construct in its patent application abstracts. Apparently thinking it was onto something big, Microsoft applied for patents covering its tablet's keyboard design last May, roughly a month before the mystery event that turned out to be the device's unveiling.

The cover presented one of the key challenges Microsoft faced in developing the tablet. It had to be thin but durable enough to protect the screen. The team behind the tablet ultimately decided on using a removable keyboard cover that could stick to the screen via a magnet.

Since the first devices launched in October, Microsoft has sold more than 1.5 million Surface tablets, including about 400,000 Surface Pros, according to a Bloomberg report. The company had reportedly ordered about 3 million Surface RTs, with some analysts expecting Microsoft to sell 2 million RTs in its first quarter on the market.

The keyboard cover is definitely one of the coolest things about the Surface. It just goes to show you that Microsoft can still innovate when they want to!

Continue Reading @: Microsoft lands design patents for Surface cover keyboard | Microsoft - CNET News

As excited as we are about all the solid growth and advancement of the Surface tablets from Microsoft, sometimes we just have to report the bad with the good too. Today we read a report about an issue with the Surface Pro. Apparently, some of them are experiencing Wake from Sleep problems due to specific power settings. Luckily, there is a fix for it and we are sharing it along with the bad news. Here's the full gist of it below,

For those of you who own a Microsoft Surface Pro, another issue has been going around regarding the device not being able to wake up after it enters sleep mode. Fortunately, the fix is pretty easy and involves making a minor adjustment to your power settings.

"The problem is simple: let the device go into sleep/standby. It won't wake up. I can feel a vibrate when I push the Windows button, but that's it. I'm forced to do a hard reboot by holding the power button down for 10 sec to regain access to my machine," a Surface owner stated on the official Microsoft support forums.

So how do you fix this issue? Simple! Head over to the Device Manager and expand Network Adapters. Double click on Marvell Avastar 350N and select the Power Management tab. Checkmark "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power." And there you go, the device will no longer refuse to wake up after entering sleep mode.

As you can see, it isn't too much of a problem and is easily fixed, but we felt it was worth sharing for any of our users who might be experiencing it and getting frustrated. Hopefully, Microsoft will have an official fix for it sometime soon.

Source: Microsoft Surface Pro refusing to wake up from sleep mode due to power setting | WinBeta