Microsoft's Surface tablets, the company's first foray into the hardware business, will not arrive until late October, but the software giant is not wasting any time. Microsoft is already looking at the next-generation Surface, TechRadar reported, after stumbling upon more than a dozen job ads posted on the Microsoft Careers site between June and August.

The job listings are related, in one way or another, to future iterations of Surface. According to the job listings, the Surface team is "currently building the next generation" of "devices that fully express the Windows vision."

All ads are dated after the name of the original-size Surface changed to PixelSense.

"The surface Team focuses on lighting up the Microsoft experience with touch first computing," say the ads. "A fundamental part of our strategy is having desirable and powerful devices that enable the experiences people want, and elicit their excitement. Creating these devices involves a close partnership between hardware and software engineers, designers, and manufacturing. We are currently building the next generation and Surface needs you."

Looking at the various job listings, one job ad for a mechanical engineer reveals that Microsoft is looking for someone with "understanding of touch display architecture and experience in mechanical integration of large touch displays into electronics products." Meanwhile, one senior electrical engineer will be working on "the electrical design and qualification of AC-DC power supplies and adapters," which are only needed for battery-powered devices. The Surface Team is also looking to hire a talented senior engineer, who "will be responsible for overall system design and system bring-up/enablement," thus a "critical member of a team that includes firmware, electrical, software, design validation and mechanical engineers," reads the advert. "Together, you will bring next generation Surface to life."

"The scope of the jobs Microsoft is recruiting for shows that this isn't just keeping Surface up to date with future processor improvements," TechRadar points out. "It's building up a full product design and development team to keep innovating (and keeping PC OEMs on their toes with some healthy competition)." Meanwhile, Microsoft maintains that its only Surface devices are the two tablets that have already been announced.

While Microsoft surface is expected to launch October 26, Microsoft's plans to expand the Surface Team seem to indicate that the company is not only working on a second-generation Surface, but also building up a long-term product team to map out several generations of products. Meanwhile, Microsoft has yet to release pricing details for the Surface tablets arriving in October.