Microsoft appears to tease Surface announcement for July 10

The rumor mill has been rife with speculation that a budget Surface device is in the works, and we may get our first official look at it this week. The official Microsoft Surface Twitter account today posted an image of its current family of devices, all with the date of Tuesday, July 10 on their lock screens with the caption: "Where will Surface go next?"

As The Verge notes, this image has been used by Microsoft before, but never with the dates and times included. And if you look closely at the image, you can spot another shadow off to the right, which doesn't appear to belong to any of the devices shown.

With Microsoft's Andromeda device rumored to be on the backburner for now, it's most likely that Microsoft is teasing the announcement of a cheaper Surface coming to its lineup. The device is said to be targeting a $400 price point with an eye on competing in the market against Apple's iPad. Along with a rumored 10-inch screen and LTE option, the device is said to be packing Intel's Pentium chips, which would allow Microsoft to produce a reasonably priced tablet that can still perform well enough for general web browsing and office tasks. Last week, we caught a hint that Microsoft was gearing up to launch such a device with its move through the FCC.

We'll have to wait until later this week to see if this apparent teaser pans out, but it's interesting nonetheless – and it's just in time to hit shelves before the back-to-school season kicks into high gear.