SINGAPORE, Asia Pacific, Feb 27, 2014 — Microsoft Corp. on Thursday announced that the company is responding to worldwide customer interest and will be shipping Surface 2, as well as Type Cover 2 and Touch Cover 2 through major retailers in Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand on March 14th, giving customers in the region the opportunity to click in and do more.
With the addition of these new markets, Surface 2 will be available in a total of 29 markets worldwide. Markets in Asia Pacific includes: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
“A recent Microsoft online survey in Asia showed that a tablet which enables them to be productive for both work and play was at the top of their 2014 Tech Wishlist,” said Jason Lim, General Manager, Windows Business Group, Microsoft Asia Pacific. “Surface 2 builds on the strengths of Surface RT that enables portability and productivity in one sleek device, and is the most productive tablet for personal use in the market today.”
Surface 2 — entertainment and productivity at your fingertips
Featuring a newly-designed dual-angle kickstand, Surface 2 offers all the entertainment and gaming capabilities you expect from a tablet, along with the ability to get work done. Surface 2 has great battery life, with up to 10 hours of video playback, and is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor, making apps run fast and smooth.
The 10.6-inch ClearType Full HD display renders 1080p video for enjoying shows and movies, and it features a USB 3.0 port for file transfers up to four times faster than USB 2.0. Surface 2 has a 3.5-megapixel front camera and 5-megapixel rear camera, both capable of capturing 1080p video and featuring improved low-light performance, making face-to-face conversations with your favorite people even more crisp and clear. Even with these and other upgrades, Surface 2 is thinner and lighter than its predecessor.
Surface 2 ships with Windows RT 8.1, bringing people exceptional personalization options, integrated search feature, multitasking and built-in apps, plus a seamless Windows Store experience and cloud connectivity.
No Surface experience is complete without apps – with more than 140,000 apps in Windows Store today, users are bound to find an app for all their needs. Recent marquee additions in the Windows Store include AirAsia, Discovery News, Facebook, Flipboard for Windows, as well as top new game apps Asphalt 8: Airborne, Avengers Initiative, Despicable Me: Minion Rush, Frozen Free Fall by Disney, LEGO® Hero Factory Brain Attack and UNO & Friends.
When it’s time to get serious, Surface 2 is pre-loaded with Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 RT and Outlook 2013 RT for instant producitivity, even while on-the-go. Users can just simply click in a Touch Cover 2 or Type Cover 2 with backlighting and get to work.
Exciting Skype and OneDrive offers with Surface
To help people get the most out of Surface 2, new customers will receive free Skype calling to landlines in more than 60 countries for one year, unlimited Skype Wi-Fi available at more than 2 million hot spots worldwide for one year, and 200 GB of free OneDrive storage for two years.
New Accessories to enhance the Surface Experience
Today’s announcement also includes three new accessories that will make Surface more flexible, more portable and more productive:
- Touch Cover 2. Thinner and lighter than the original Touch Cover and measuring only 2.75 mm thin, Touch Cover 2 features backlit keys for even better readability. Touch Cover 2 is more rigid, registers keystrokes with greater accuracy and features over a thousand sensors that support a variety of gestures across the entire keyboard. Touch Cover 2 is also spill-resistant and easy to clean, making it the perfect keyboard and cover accompaniant for Surface 2.
- Type Cover 2. Type Cover 2 features the same super-thin, lightweight design of the original Type Cover, but it’s now backlit and will be available in Cyan, Magenta, Purple and Charcoal. It’s also more rigid, providing a better typing experience on the lap, and is designed to be noticeably quieter when striking keys.
- Arc Touch Mouse Surface Edition. This special-edition Arc Touch Mouse has been updated to match the look of Surface. Like other Arc Touch mice, it is designed for comfort and flattens for portability. It connects via Bluetooth 4.0, freeing Surface’s USB port for use by other devices.
Surface 2 will be available in 32GB and 64GB configurations at launch. Pricing varies across countries. More information on Surface is available at http://www.surface.com.
About Microsoft
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The information contained in this press release relates to pre-release software products that may be substantially modified before their first commercial release. Accordingly, the information may not accurately describe or reflect the software products when first commercially released. The press release is provided for informational purposes only, and Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the press release or the information contained in it.
