Microsoft Surface RT 2 May Feature Qualcomm Processor

As Bloomberg reported today, Microsoft will no longer only rely on Nvidia for the next generations of the Surface RT. According to the (unconfirmed) report, the software behemoth will also use chipsets from Qualcomm – the world leader in the ARM-based SoC (System-on-a-Chip) industry – for its upcoming tablets. 

Qualcomm offers a large number of SoCs from its Snapdragon S4 series, including the Snapdragon 200, 400, 600 and 800, all with varying performance and power requirements, suited for many different mobile or integrated products. Microsoft reportedly plans to use the Qualcomm chips to add additional features to the Surface RT. One such feature could be an LTE version of the RT.

Microsoft confirmed at Computex 2013 recently that it would retain the Surface RT and expand the feature set on the tablet. Precisely what role Nvidia will play in the upcoming Surface lineup remains to be seen, but according to Bloomberg's source, Nvidia till remain as a supplier for certain models. That could mean that there will also be models with the still-unreleased Tegra 4 or Tegra 4i chips. 

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