Microsoft announced the next generation of Surface hardware at its New York event this morning, with Microsoft Vice President of Surface Panos Panay revealing how the teams have worked to make the new Surface devices cooler, lighter, quieter, and more efficient and powerful.
The Surface Pro 2, for instance, actually has a battery life that doubles that of its predecessor while powering Intel’s fourth generation Haswell chips. That’s really not bad at all, especially since the batteries themselves aren’t any bigger than those found on the first generation hardware.
The Surface Pro 2 will come with 4GB of RAM for the 64GB and 128GB models out of the box, while 8GB of RAM will come standard with the 256GB and 512GB versions. The Surface 2 comes with Tegra 4 inside.
The Surface 2 is certainly lighter and sports a faster CPU and now sports a 1080 display with ClearType. USB 3.0 also comes with the new tablet, along with a 3.5MP front-facing camera. What’s more is (as one can see in the above photo) there’s a brand new color.
Of course, both devices are powering the new Windows 8.1 OS.
As for pricing, Surface 2 runs $449 or $549 for the 32GB or 64GB models, respectively. Surface Pro 2, meanwhile, will run $899, $999, $1299, and $1799 for the 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models, respectively.
So when will you be able to get your hands on one? The Surface tablets will go on sale starting October 22nd, but preorders start tomorrow at 8 AM EDT from the Microsoft Store if you’re in the United States and Canada.
The 22 initial markets for the October 22nd launch include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. People in China will have to wait until early November.
Best of all, customers purchasing either device will receive free Skype calling to landlines in more than 60 countries for one year, unlimited Skype WiFi on their Surface 2 or Surface Pro 2 at more than 2 million hot spots worldwide for one year, and 200 GB of free SkyDrive storage for two years.
Take a look at the new Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets in the video below. Are you going to procure one of these for yourself?
Photo: CNET