Microsoft Surface 2 already in the works?

The much hyped Microsoft Surface tablet is set to release on October 26 alongside Windows 8. The tablet is said to be up against competition from Acer's Iconia or HP's TouchPad. While Acer has put a "think twice" label on Microsoft's new venture into the tablet arena, the software giant seems to be working on a second iteration of the Surface, reports TechRadar.

The Microsoft Careers site has dozens of job listings between June 18 and August 2, indicating Microsoft's hunt for engineers and managers to build the "next generation" of Surface devices.

Many of these mention, "The Surface Team focuses on lighting up Microsoft experiences with touch first computing... We are currently building the next generation and Surface needs you!" While others state... "The Surface Team focuses on building devices that fully express the Windows vision."

The job listings for the Surface team are for a variety of positions ranging from mechanical engineers to materials experts, component specialists to driver developers and audio engineers. This means that there's a lot of scope for innovation and improvement over the yet-to-launch Surface.

They also reveal certain interesting clues regarding enhancements for the Touch Cover, since one of the postings mention vacancy for a materials engineer to work with "new materials including metals, ceramics, plastics and thin films" as well as "finishing processes such as paint, plating and PVD".

Nothing is official apart from the two Surface tablets that Microsoft announced in June. But the company expects to sell a few million tablets, which would be a good start for Microsoft, if it is planning to extend its range of "new family of PCs".

Microsoft Surface in pictures