MICROSOFT will discount its Surface RT tablet by more than 60 per cent in schools to counter the rapid take-up of iPads in education. Currently the Surface RT tablet costs $559, discounted to $459, on Microsoft’s Australian website.

However, a Microsoft order form posted on the internet last week has the 32GB Surface RT priced at $US199 ($209) for orders placed until August 31 via SurfaceEDU@microsoft.com. That’s a 62 per cent discount.

The deal, which is expected to be officially announced shortly, will apply to educational institutions. It will apply in 25 countries, including in Australia, according to the leaked material.

The order form detailing the discount and a blog appeared and disappeared online last week, having apparently been posted prematurely, but when sent the order form, Microsoft Australia confirmed the discount.

“Yes, it’s true - it’s important Microsoft does its part to help get devices into the hands of educators that help prepare today’s students with skills modern businesses demand,” a spokeswoman said.

“Microsoft will be discussing this more in greater detail on June 24, both from the ISTE showroom floor and on the Education Newsroom.”

The brochure posted last week has the 32GB Surface with a Touch Keyboard Cover discounted to $US249 from an estimated retail price of $599. The 32GB Surface with the more expensive Type Keyboard Cover will cost $US289 instead of an estimated $629.

With iPads being rapidly deployed in schools, Microsoft is after a major slice of the action, but faces a mammoth battle with Apple and other manufacturers to get its tablets widely adopted both in Australia and the US educational institutions.

Last week the Los Angeles Board of Education said it had approved the purchase of $30 million worth of iPads as the first part of a multi-year commitment. It found that the iPad was the least expensive option that met its specifications, it said. The initial order would be for more than 31,000 iPads.

In Australia, the University of Western Sydney in December last year announced it would distribute 11,000 iPads to each new student and all academic staff this year "to support learning and teaching innovations across the curriculum and in informal learning environments".

In April this year Chinese computer maker Lenovo won a $150 million contract to supply 257,000 netbooks to secondary schools in NSW over four years, including 25,000 units for teachers.

And this month Taiwan manufacturer Acer won a $13 million contract to supply nearly 14,000 Queensland secondary school students with what is regarded as the largest deployment of Windows 8 tablets in Australia, and one of the biggest in the world to date.

The deal will see a majority of Year 9 students toting tablets manufactured by Acer Computer running on Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system.

By: Docmemory
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