Microsoft ‘committed to continually improving Surface’, showcases recent improvements

In an official Surface blog post, Microsoft has outlined the latest updates and improvements that have been added to the Surface RT and Surface Pro as of late. Piggybacking off the June 2013 Patch Tuesday, which saw the release of a new firmware update for both Surface devices, Microsoft has revealed other areas of improvement added to the devices.

For example, Microsoft has improved the WiFi connectivity issue that has been plaguing Surface owners for quite a while now. It all started during the March 2013 firmware update which only made matters worse. Microsoft has been rolling out fixes for the issue over the past few months to no avail. Apparently, this issue is now resolved. “There were improvements back in the March update that reduced the instances of ‘limited connectivity’, and we’ve gone further since then to minimize these events from the Surface side. We take the ability to get and stay connected very seriously and hope that you’ve noticed the improvement,” Microsoft explains.

Microsoft has also released a new driver for the Surface USB to Ethernet adapter for the Surface Pro. This allows direct Ethernet connection to a wired network, including the ability to PXE boot. This adapter is available via the Microsoft Store for roughly $40. The June 2013 firmware update also brought forth improvements to the Surface RT function keys, making it easier to access common tasks. In this blog post, Microsoft mentions that this new function key feature is also available on the Surface Pro, which wasn’t mentioned in the firmware update changelog during its release June 11th.

“Also in the vein of making sure your Surface serves you well in a wide variety of settings we published an update to the LifeCam driver on Surface Pro that will enhance image clarity in low light conditions, this update also improves performance and reliability when you switch between the integrated camera and an external camera,” Microsoft added. This update was a part of the June 2013 firmware update.

Microsoft has also recently boosted the volume of the Surface RT speakers, which also created its own set of issues for some users. Microsoft hasn’t acknowledged this issue in todays blog post, but touts the feature as “great for games, videos, Lync, and Skype calls.”

“We are committed to continually improving Surface. I mentioned last week that there’s a lot coming with the Windows 8.1 update later this year and we’re constantly working to ensure that Surface really is the one device for work and play,” Microsoft promises.