Ahead of today’s Microsoft Surface Studio announcement, there had been rumors floating around that the company would launch an all-in-one desktop. We didn’t know it’s have a 4500 x 3000 pixel touchscreen display, support for a new accessory called the Surface Dial, or a hinge that lets you adjust the screen for writing or drawing. But we were pretty sure some sort of desktop was coming.
One reason? A new Surface Keyboard showed up at the FCC website earlier this month.
Now that keyboard is available for pre-order for $130. But it’s just one of the new Surface-branded accessories Microsoft is launching.
There’s also a $130 Microsoft Surface Ergonomic Keyboard, for folks that prefer an angled, split-key layout and a large palm rest area. And there’s a new Surface Mouse that sells for $50.
Now, honestly, these aren’t normally the sort of accessories I’d pay attention to. They’re relatively pricey when compared with any number of third-party options. But they have two things going for them that I think make them marginally newsworthy:
- These Bluetooth accessories have a soft grey finish that makes them look like they were built to work with Surface products (because they were).
- It’s interesting to see that the leaked keyboard looks pretty much identical to the one that’s now available for purchase.
Each item is designed to pair with a Windows, Mac, or Android device over Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy and each is powered by 2 AAA batteries which should provide up to a year of battery life.
