Microsoft Surface Event Live Blog

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