Microsoft Surface to ship as a wifi only device

There's a lot to be excited about when it comes to the new Microsoft Surface supertablet, the device Gates and company hope will take down the industry-leading iPad. But already, a major weakness may have appeared in the gadget: The first-generation Windows 8Microsoft Surface will be wifi-only, and will not have access to a 4G LTE network, sources familiar with the device say.

The decision is a head scratcher. Sure, skipping 4G connectivity keeps the cost of the device down (likely the reason for the omission), and wifi-only devices are the best selling tablets out there by far. And the Surface does have a USB port, so you can conceivably carry around a MiFi device for connecting on the go. But that solution is less than elegant.

Still, not having built-in 4G as an option keeps the Surface from being a truly anywhere device with unmatched portability. And since that's a major selling point of any tablet — portability — not having an integrated 4G option could seriously keep the Surface from becoming the next big thing.