Microsoft’s spin on the Surface Pro with cellular connectivity is now available to buy in the US, Canada and Australia.

The Surface Pro LTE was previously only available to business customers, but now anyone can get hold of the variant of the 2-in-1 with mobile broadband tricks up its sleeve.

Those in the US can order the Surface Pro LTE – with a Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage – from Microsoft’s online store for the price of $1,449 which equates to around £1,065, AU$1,930 (or a discounted $1,304 – around £960, AU$1,740 – if you’re a student or teacher).

In the US, the non-LTE version with the same spec retails at a recommended price of $1,299 (around £955, AU$1,730), so you’re paying an extra $150 for cellular connectivity (except for the fact that the non-LTE spin is currently on sale for $1,099 – around £810, AU$1,460 – making for a much bigger difference right now). You’ll have to be pretty keen on having LTE to pay $350 extra for it, of course.

What about the UK?

Sadly the Surface Pro LTE hasn’t yet graced the shores of the UK, but given the general release in these other major territories, it surely can’t be long before Microsoft brings it to this country.

The other point to bear in mind with this LTE model is that there is only one spec available, and there’s no higher-end version with a Core i7 CPU inside. Although that could well arrive at a later stage.

• One of Microsoft’s Surface range makes our best laptops list

 Via Windows Central

http://www.techradar.com/news/surface-pro-lte-goes-on-sale-to-almost-everyone-not-just-businesses

Oculus Go is officially getting second-screen support, confirmed Oculus VR Chief Technology Officer John Carmack via a Twitter exchange with an excited Oculus Go user.

That means that you’ll be able to cast whatever you’re seeing in the VR headset to a TV, tablet, and even phone. So the people watching you flail around in a virtual world can actually see your assailants.

Alongside making VR less of a solitary experience, second-screen support opens up the possibility of games that require collaboration between parties split between the virtual and real world like the incredible Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes where the VR participant is in a room with a bomb and the people in the real world have to talk them through deactivating it.

How long is ‘a little while’?

Now, second-screen support is nothing new, as both the Gear VR and Google Daydream headsets already have the ability to stream to Chromecast devices. What’s interesting is the potential mobile applications that could accompany it.

In his tweet, Carmack was replying to someone saying that they wish the Oculus app could stream “what you’re seeing in VR”. Carmack replies: “I made a demo of that, bit it will take a little while to get it integrated into the companion app”.

While the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have the ability to mirror gameplay on the computer running the game, they aren’t able to stream to a phone, and as current wire-free headsets use your phone, this is a new application of second-screen streaming.

Whether or not this actually opens up any new avenues for how VR will work, it’s interesting to see that Oculus is still pushing boundaries, rather than just trying to produce a cheaper version of their flagship product.  

• Want to see why we call the Go “the headset that will take VR mainstream”? Check out our Oculus Go review

http://www.techradar.com/news/oculus-go-will-get-second-screen-support-so-you-can-share-your-virtual-reality

Virgin Media Business has launched a new fibre package which also bundles in a mobile SIM to enable business customers to stay online wherever they happen to be.

Voom Fibre 3+ consists of a dedicated business landline – which has unlimited calls as standard – along with a 350Mbps broadband connection, and a 4G SIM card. The latter offers unlimited calls and texts, along with 32GB of mobile data per month (with tethering allowed to spread the mobile broadband goodness around to all your devices, if you so wish).

How much will this set you back? Virgin Media Business is asking for £69 per month (excluding VAT) for the new Voom package (and that includes line rental on the phone line). That saves you more than £25 a month on the cost of obtaining all these services separately.

Bonus boons

Other points to bear in mind are that Voom Fibre 3+ gives you five static IPs with your broadband connection, plus you get access to 250,000 Wi-Fi hotspots around the country. And on the support front, the service level agreement specifies a 12-hour fault fix time.

Rob Orr, Executive Director, Commercial & Marketing, at Virgin Media Business commented: “The launch of Voom Fibre 3+ is great news for our customers – it delivers on demand services for in demand small businesses, anywhere and everywhere.”

http://www.techradar.com/news/virgin-media-business-new-fibre-package-has-everything-you-need-to-go-online-anywhere