All the news from Microsoft’s Surface 2 event

As Microsoft announced at its launch event yesterday, the new Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets are now available for pre-order, with shipments expected for October 21st. The Surface 2 starts at $449 for the 32GB model, while the 64GB version is $549. If you’re interested in the Surface Pro 2, you have a few more options. The base, 64GB model with 4GB of RAM costs $899, while the 128GB version is $999 and the 256GB model is $1,299. If you really want to go all out for the best Surface Pro 2 you can get, you can opt for the high-end 512GB version with 8GB of RAM for a steep $1,799. No matter which Surface 2 or Pro 2 you choose, Microsoft is including 200GB of SkyDrive storage for two years at no extra charge.

An eagle-eyed Verge reader has spotted a little bit of self-referential humor in Microsoft’s choice of Type Cover 2 colors. A Windows Phone advert from October last year included a tip from Bill Gates to Steve Ballmer, with the original CEO urging the present one to “consider making purple typecover for Surface.” Lo and behold, yesterday’s announcement of the second-generation Surface tablets was graced by new pink, cyan, and yes, purple Type Covers to go with the original black. It’s nice to see such a warm gesture of appreciation to the company patriarch, and it shows that Microsoft is indeed heeding user feedback — even if it is one very special user.

Microsoft unveiled its latest iPad competitors at a New York event earlier today, rolling out the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets. We live blogged the product launch and we’ve got all the news covered — from touch covers built for DJs, to the surprising news that last year’s Surface RT isn’t dead yet. But Microsoft has posted a video of the event, for those who want to see the company’s new hardware launch in full.

Check out our StoryStream on the right side of the page for our full coverage, and feel free to watch The Verge Live embedded below to hear our own Ross Miller and Nilay Patel weigh in on Microsoft’s big day.

Microsoft took the wraps off of its Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets today, but it didn’t reveal everything that’s coming in the near future. In a followup Ask Me Anything on Reddit, Surface head Panos Panay said that the company plans to release a version of the Surface 2 with built-in LTE support “early next year.”

The Surface RT, Surface Pro, Surface 2, and Surface Pro 2 devices that have been announced or released have only offered Wi-Fi connectivity and have lacked cellular connections. A version with built-in LTE would help Microsoft compete with Apple’s iPad and a number of Android tablets with LTE. ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports that the company is possibly looking at a bundle of Windows Phone and Surface for certain markets to provide mobile connectivity before a proper LTE version is released. It’s not yet clear how much an LTE version of the Surface 2 would cost, but we’d expect it to be at least a couple of hundred dollars more than the $449 Wi-Fi model.

The bigger change is coming to the new Touch Cover 2, which is one millimeter thinner than before and has over one thousand touch-sensitiive zones (last year’s only had just over 80 zones). Microsoft claims that this makes the Touch Cover much more responsive and accurate when typing. In our tests, the Touch cover more or less felt the same as before, though it will take some extensive use with it to really put Microsoft’s claims to the test. Microsoft did add backlighting to the new Touch and Type covers, which is a much needed feature when typing in dim lighting.

Microsoft also unveiled the Power Cover, which is a Type Cover 2 with a 30 watt-hour battery included. It extends the Pro 2’s battery life by up to 2.5x that of last year’s Pro, and it features a fabric finish. It’s heavy and noticeably thick — there’s no getting around that when you have a large battery inside of it — but for those that want the most battery life they can get from their Surface, it’s a good option to have.

Microsoft has big plans for the Surface, its Touch Cover, and all those new sensors, but only one crazy new idea is actually on display today at the company’s event in New York City. That’s the Surface Remix Project, which is part modified Touch Cover and part Garage Band-style DJ app. It’s a simple, fun tool to play with, letting you create your own customizable controller, chop up your MP3s, and spin to your heart’s content.

Avicii I am not (even with the Remix Project’s help), but I was easily layering screaming Linkin Park vocals over a booming kick drum in no time. The Remix Project Cover, with 16 numbered buttons, three sliders, and eight keys for volume and control, is impressive — it was fast and responsive, even as I slid up and down on the sliders. Part of that is no doubt due to the Surface 2 attached to it (the Cover also works with the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2, but not Surface RT), which is itself much faster than its previous iteration. The app is barebones, black and green and gray, but makes splitting stems and mixing tracks really easy.

Microsoft just announced the Surface 2, a new tablet that sounds like a pretty major upgrade over last year’s Surface RT — but that doesn’t mean the older model is going away. During its Surface 2 event, Microsoft just announced that last year’s Surface RT is going to continue to be available at the $349 price point that the product was re-priced at back in July. Fortunately for anyone looking to save some cash on the older Surface model, Microsoft’s new Touch and Type Covers will work with the older hardware — but the Power Cover sadly will not work with Surface RT. It’s not clear if the Surface RT will stick around until Microsoft runs out of stock, or if it’ll be a permanent lower-cost option (as Apple has done with the iPad 2 for some time now). At the very least, Surface customers have more options at more price points now.

Microsoft’s laid out the groundwork for its second generation of tablets, and there’s plenty to talk about there. Catch up here if you need, and then join Nilay Patel and Ross Miller as they break down this morning’s announcements with all the relevance, irreverence, and kickstands you’d expect.

Outside its unusual function, the Music Cover looks similar to other touch covers, and Microsoft promises it’s not any thicker than them. The Surface Music Kit connects to the Surface 2, Surface Pro, and Surface 2 Pro, and it will be available on October 22nd, along with everything else in Microsoft’s new Surface line. For now, Microsoft is holding a contest to get traction with musicians: tweet a remix-related Vine to Microsoft’s Surface Twitter account, and you could end up with a Surface 2 tablet and the Music Cover.

To go along with the new Surface 2 tablet, Microsoft has just announced its new Touch Cover 2 — the touch-sensitive keyboard that attaches right onto the company’s flagship tablets. The new Touch Cover 2 has a whopping 1,092 touch sensors that the company says will help it more accurately register keystrokes — that’s up from only 80 on the original Touch Cover. That helps you not miss any keys and it also allows for much better predictive typing, as well.

The sensors also allow for a major new feature — the entire surface of the cover can be used for touch gestures. Microsoft didn’t give more details, but it sounds like you’ll be able to use the entire cover like a giant trackpad. Its physical construction is more rigid than last year’s model. Impressively, Microsoft also built a backlight into the Touch Cover 2 and managed to make it 2mm thinner at the same time.

One big change is a new two-step kickstand. Like the Surface 2, it works by simply pushing the kickstand further out to create a wider 55-degree angle for the device. It appears to offer a new solution for lap use, but only if you’re really willing to use the onscreen keyboard as a Touch or Type Cover as the new angle could be difficult to use.

Picking up and holding the device in tablet mode still feels a little chunky and heavy, and the size and dimensions are unchanged from the original Surface Pro. Microsoft has also swapped the Windows logo at the rear of the Surface Pro 2 for just a Surface wordmark using the Segoe font. The Surface 2 also includes the new wordmark.

Microsoft’s new Surface 2 tablet is now official, and it marks more of a refinement over the original than a radical rethinking of the basic Surface concept. The updated model includes Nvidia’s Tegra 4 processor, a 1080p display, and a new two-stage kickstand. I got a chance to briefly try out the new tablet, and the first thing I noticed was the weight. Microsoft hasn’t trimmed down the Surface 2, but it feels considerably lighter than the original. You’ll obviously notice that improvement when you use the Surface 2 in tablet mode, but in the laptop mode the main addition is a two-stage kickstand.

The Surface 2 kickstand answers some of the criticisms of the Surface RT. However, instead of being fully adjustable with separate angles, Microsoft has opted for only two angles. One is the ordinary laptop style, but the other feels more like an angle you’d want if you were resting it on your lap. That makes the Surface 2 considerably easier to use on your lap, since it’s neither tipping forward nor falling backward on your knees. It’s simple to switch between the two angles, even at first it’s slightly unnerving to push the kickstand back further than it seems like it should. It feels sturdy in either position, and a small mechanism keeps it locked in place.

Along with its new Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets, Microsoft is expanding its line of covers, unveiling a new Type Cover that promises better key presses, silent typing that you wouldn’t get from a laptop, and backlit keys. The cover comes in purple, pink, blue, and black, and Microsoft says it’s taken a millimeter of travel out of the keys, making the Type Cover 2 nearly as thin as the Touch Cover for the first generation. Though Microsoft has said people will be using the cover “next year,” it’s going on pre-order September 24th just like the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, for an additional $129.99.

Microsoft has spent a lot of time emphasizing the Surface and Surface Pro’s attractiveness for productivity, with a powerful dock that lets users clip in for work, keyboards and kickstands that make the tablet more laptop-like, and making digs at Apple’s iPad for being unable to handle office work. “It’s clear input that makes you productive. Typing is a scenario that makes you productive,” says Microsoft’s Panos Panay. The company is also, however, trying to make it more appealing outside the office, with colorful covers and partnerships with companies like camera-maker Red Dragon.

Microsoft has unveiled the long-awaited Power Cover for its Surface tablets, which acts as both a keyboard as well as an external battery. The new cover is slightly thicker than the 5.3mm Type Cover, and will reportedly add up to 30Wh to the tablet, or up to 50 percent more battery life. With the Power Cover, the new Surface Pro supposedly lasts two and a half times longer than the original tablet.

The typing experience is supposedly very similar to the original Type Cover, but the new cover is covered with a soft fabric. Just like the other cases, the new Power Cover snaps onto the tablet to create an almost book-like form factor. The Power Cover will cost an additional $199.99, significantly more than the $119.99 Touch Cover 2 and the $129.99 Type Cover 2. There’s no official release date yet, but the new Power Cover is projected to be available early next year.

Microsoft just announced a docking station for the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2, the first docking accessory for the Surface line of tablets. The dock has been expected for a long time, and it looks like a solid workstation intended to appeal to business users who use the Surface for serious computing.

The Surface Docking Station, unveiled at a press event in New York City today, is large and sturdy-looking, framed by two wings that fit on either side of the docked tablet. The dock includes three USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, audio in, audio out, and will of course charge the device while connected. It can also power two monitors.

Microsoft has unveiled the Surface Pro 2, a new version of its flagship 10.6-inch Windows tablet. Though little has been changed externally on the updated device — it has the same size, weight, and black color scheme as its predecessor — Microsoft says that what’s inside has changed quite a bit. “We improved the performance on this product by 20 percent,” says Panos Panay, Microsoft’s VP of Surface. “If you thought it was fast before, it is lightning fast now.” Panay says that the tablet is now faster than 95 percent of laptops and that its graphics performance has increased by 50 percent. The updated tablet includes one of Intel’s Core i5 Haswell processors, and Microsoft says that it’ll see a 60 percent improvement in battery life over its predecessor.

The Surface Pro 2 is also trying to address one of the biggest complaints many had with the original tablet: that its built-in kickstand was difficult to use when propped on your lap. The new tablet’s kickstand has a second position that can prop the device up at a 55 degree angle — in addition to the 22 degree angle present on its predecessor — adding a much more sloped position for it to stand in. Panay also says that the Surface Pro 2 will run quieter and cooler than the original Surface Pro, and that its 1080p display has 46 percent greater color accuracy.

The second wave of Surface tablets is upon us. Microsoft’s Panos Panay has just announced the Surface 2 on stage in New York. He describes it as “the most productive tablet ever built,” while noting that the second generation Surface tablets are the product of over 18 months of development work.

Checking off the usual upgrade boxes, the Surface 2 is thinner, lighter, and faster than the original Surface slate. It’s also adding a new silver color option to go with the classic black, there’s a new 1080p ClearType display, and Microsoft has “increased the CPU speed dramatically.” Nvidia’s Tegra 4 is, as expected, at the heart of the new Surface, which Microsoft promises will last for up to 10 hours while playing back video. There’s also a full-size USB 3.0 port for transferring files.

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