Published in AI

Surface 2 LTE has Nvidia Icera 500 modem

by on19 March 2014



Windows 8.1 and $679 price tag

Nvidia got a decent design win, at least when it comes to its modem business. Its first big winner is no other than Microsoft with Surface 2 64GB for AT&T. This is the official name of the product that just became directly from Microsoft.

This 64GB, Tegra 4 powered tablet comes with an Icera 500 Nvidia modem that is capable of 4G on AT&T's network and in the rest of the world should work as a 3G solution. This is at least possible in case that your carrier frequencies are supported. The chances that they are supported are good.

The $130 premium is the same amount Apple charges for its LTE iPads and of course you will have to setup AT&T data account in order to use the modem. Other than the added LTE support, there is not much that sets it apart from 64GB non-LTE version. The 4G LTE version is late to the party, but Windows RT lovers that enjoy the fact that their ARM-based processor can run free Outlook can now enjoy 4G as well.

This is a significant and first major design win for Nvidia's Icera 500 modem but we don’t think that either of these two partners will sell millions of units. It is just a nice proof of concept that both companies can offer 4G LTE product in their portfolio. Let's hope that there will be more of this LTE as from where we stand, Qualcomm wireless LTE business needs some serious competition as it completely rules the USA and rest of the world.

You can order the LTE enabled Surface 2 at Microsoft's website here.

 

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