Microsoft Surface Event Live Blog
by Brian Klug on September 23, 2013 8:59 AM EST
11:38AM EDT - I think we're wrapping up here, off to get hands on shortly
11:33AM EDT - Specs are up, preorders start 9/24 at 8 AM, launch on 10/22
11:32AM EDT - Surface Remix Project being shown off with those buttons being used for more than just QWERTY
11:30AM EDT - We're looking at how the touch cover sensors can be used for other things like instrument control with pressure sensitivity
11:27AM EDT - Looking at a video of Surface 2, coming 10/22
11:24AM EDT - Gestures on top with these new sensors, new experiences beyond just typing
11:22AM EDT - Many more sensors, 1092 sensors in Touch Cover 2
11:22AM EDT - Touch cover is also backlit now, thinner, more rigid, turns itself off when not being used
11:21AM EDT - Going over everything in Surface 2 - price $449
11:20AM EDT - 200 GB of SkyDrive for 2 years with Surface 2
11:17AM EDT - That front facing video demo was pretty compelling, the lights went down very low in here but exposure looked great on the video preview
11:14AM EDT - Unique lens, able to filter light through the product (need more on this), very low light inside the room right now but the video looks great
11:13AM EDT - Looking at Skype now and how the adjustable angle on Surface 2 helps the front facing camera experience
11:11AM EDT - Surface 2 cameras - back camera is better by 5x (not sure what metric they're referring to), front facing camera is improved
11:10AM EDT - Working and playing at the same time on Surface 2 with Spartan Assault next to Office apps as a crazy example
11:09AM EDT - 72 cores on the GPU right now, Tegra 4 in the Surface 2
11:08AM EDT - Looking at Surface 2 running all four Office apps at the same time
11:06AM EDT - Office comes with Surface 2, full Office Suite
11:05AM EDT - 100k apps in the Windows Store right now
11:05AM EDT - Talking about Surface 2 running RT 8.1 and multi user scenarios at home
11:02AM EDT - 25 percent battery life improvement on Surface 2
11:02AM EDT - Also has the 2-stop kickstand for use on the lap, 2 pieces of magnesium, same process as in the past, less display reflectivity
11:01AM EDT - Moved from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 on Surface 2
11:01AM EDT - Screen on Surface 2 is full 1080p clear type display, 3-4 times faster
11:00AM EDT - Added a surface logo to the back, color now shows off the alloy used as well
10:59AM EDT - Doubled bus speed for Wifi, memory, increased CPU speed
10:59AM EDT - "Lighter, Faster, Full HD"
10:58AM EDT - Watching a summary video now for Surface
10:57AM EDT - Vision with Surface was to move beyond consumption and enable creation on a tablet without having to move all the way up
10:56AM EDT - Moving on to Surface 2 now
10:55AM EDT - That wraps up Surface Pro 2 – better display, better speakers, Haswell, and improved accessories
10:54AM EDT - Keyboard is backlit as well, and dims in 9 seconds
10:54AM EDT - Very quiet keyboard, feel but not hear the keypress
10:53AM EDT - Better key switch, full 1 mm removed from travel, Type Cover 2 is now almost as thin as the original touch cover
10:52AM EDT - Type Cover 2 with colors
10:50AM EDT - Optically bonded display with the least amount of reflectivity in the industry
10:49AM EDT - Raw 6K image data, 9x the resolution of Full HD going to Surface Pro 2
10:48AM EDT - Now that RED camera on stage makes sense
10:46AM EDT - USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, miniDP, ethernet, audio, and power in the docking station
10:46AM EDT - Surface docking station
10:45AM EDT - Surface Pro 2 now has all day battery life with the Power Cover keyboard and battery
10:44AM EDT - 30 Whr battery added to the device
10:44AM EDT - 2.5 times battery life from the original device with Power Cover
10:43AM EDT - More battery life - 75 percent improvement in battery life
10:43AM EDT - Surface Pro 2 operates cooler, quieter
10:42AM EDT - Surface Pro 2 now has Haswell inside
10:42AM EDT - Looks like Surface Pro 2 has two kickstand positions now
10:41AM EDT - Able to use it on the knees at a great angle now, evolution of the kickstand
10:41AM EDT - Surface Pro 2 has a tweaked kickstand, more than just 22 degree tilt now, needs to work better in the lap
10:39AM EDT - Improved performance by 20 percent
10:38AM EDT - Increased graphics performance on Surface Pro 2 by 50 percent
10:38AM EDT - Surface Pro 2 is faster than 95 percent of all laptops in market today, it's a full PC
10:38AM EDT - "People love Surface Pro because it's fast"
10:38AM EDT - Dolby Pro 2, better sound with boost, subtle changes
10:37AM EDT - Color accuracy is much better on Surface Pro 2
10:37AM EDT - ClearType HD display, wanted to make it as productive as possible, true to color true to life images, 46 percent more color accuracy
10:36AM EDT - 'Surface Pro 2 has been the best selling device in its class'
10:35AM EDT - Starting with Surface Pro 2
10:35AM EDT - Next generation of devices, two of them, the most powerful professional use tablet will be introduced today in Surface Pro 2, and the most productive tablet with Surface 2, 7 accessories
10:34AM EDT - Working on second gen products for 18-24 months
10:34AM EDT - Just saw Surface Pro 2 flash briefly on the screen
10:33AM EDT - Here we go, getting started
10:29AM EDT - Unfortunately the event venue is below street level so LTE is shaky at best, no AT&T LTE, barely any Verizon LTE, hoping this holds up, if I go text only, you'll know why
10:26AM EDT - Hopefully this time around Tegra on RT does use the shadow core, that'd be my biggest desire from a hardware standpoint
10:24AM EDT - The event gets underway at 10:30 AM so we've got a bit of time still, which I guess we can pass with some speculation. I'd guess Tegra 4, plus possibly a S800 variant for the RT successor, and it's just a matter of which Haswell ends up inside the Pro successor at this point.
10:20AM EDT - There are some Surfaces on the podium, are any of these a Surface 2? Hard to tell from here
10:18AM EDT - WiFi is holding up, thankfully Microsoft is running some 5 GHz channels, but already down to the lowest MCS rate, Verizon LTE is holding up though, so hopefully photos will come through ok
10:17AM EDT - It's just me today on photos and text, it's going to be a busy week here in NYC
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
82 Comments
View All Comments
Impulses - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
A) It IS actually useful and meaningful to render at a higher res and then scale down like Apple does, though it comes with a performance and compatibility penalty at times.B) It's not preferable on Windows because there's so many legacy apps that DPI scaling can be a nightmare, even 1080p at under 13" can cause all sorta issues.
Stuka87 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
@Impulses I was actually referencing the RT/Surface 2 model. Which has no legacy apps as it is ARM based. But what you say is very true of standard Windows 8/8.1.ananduser - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
You can add to your "1" the added penalty that Apple cannot offer 1080p displays for their MBA and their MBP 13/15" which ship with 1280x800/1440x900(TN panels). If Windows has legacy issues with scaling, OSX is so bad that it simply doesn't address the issue at all.Impulses - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
MBA displays pale in comparison to current ultrabooks, totally, but it has more to do with Apple wanting to milk a larger profit out of the Airs than anything else... I don't give Apple credit for much, and I think the way iOS handles scaling is asinine, but I think for a desktop OS the OS X approach actually made lot of sense despite the early drawbacks. More horsepower eventually solves most issues and you depends a bit less on developers to comply.ananduser - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
Apple's approach to scaling is literally pixel doubling or bust. That's why there isn't any room for "in between" resolutions like FullHD. Using a FullHD panel on the MBA would mean making use of a non-integer scaling factor, the same one Windows applies(1.25 or 1.50 or maybe even 1.35). Apple knows the visual experience won't be as "sharp" as it would want it to be. That was my point and not ios scaling.Dribble - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
I see no mention of weight reduction? As someone who has actually played with a surface pro I can say it was far to big and heavy. It's basically a little laptop as you can hold it like a tablet for long. Surface 2 pro needs to be more iPad size/weight and less like a brick for it to have much chance, or it'll just be another small expensive laptop.kyuu - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
It's a real computer, and there's no way you're cramming real computer specs into an iPad frame. If you're looking for something that actually competes with an iPad, you should be comparing the Surface (RT) 2, not the Pro.Bob Todd - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
This. People need to realize the Surface Pro is a bit of niche product. Don't think of it like (or compare it to) an iPad. Think of it like a Macbook Air with a much better screen that you can use in tablet mode. When viewed through that lens it is a lot more compelling, especially if we are talking about 10+ hours of battery life now with Haswell. The 13" Air is a really nice ultraportable, but this would work even better for me for travel. I just think it needs a higher res display in conjunction with pixel doubling in desktop mode. Trying to use desktop apps like Outlook @1080p on a 10" screen doesn't sound fun.fteoath64 - Wednesday, September 25, 2013 - link
@Dribble: " Surface 2 pro needs to be more iPad size/weight". This is just IMPOSSIBLE with the Haswell chip in there. Unless, it get throttled down to 800Mhz or 600 Mhz which means even the Snapdragon 800 and Tegra4 chip will beat it in both performance and power consumption at this low frequency. One ends up with a laggy Win8 experience which nobody wants at any price. This is where the BayTrail Atom tries to address where is could possibly near the "acceptable performance" with the right frequency (ie 1.6Ghz) with the target power consumption figures that are competitive to the market.Sure, it is not fair to compare Win8 tablet to an Android tablet or IOS tablet. But if their use was in similar capacity, then the comparison is valid and user choices will change to the preferred devices.
ruzveh - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
What a boring event