NEW YORK: Is Microsoft's Surface a tablet or a laptop? I'm not quite sure, but it is a lot easier to type on than an iPad.
The software company unveiled updates to its Surface tablet computers at an event in New York, where I had a short amount of time to try them out.
It almost seems unfair to categorize the new Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 as tablets. Although they have touch-screen keyboards like regular tablets, they work best when attached to an optional cover with a keyboard on the inside.
The better one I tried was the Type Cover 2. In addition to coming in four fun colors - pink, purple, blue and black - that cover has backlighting, silent keys and a typing feel similar to that of a laptop keyboard.
At $130, it is just $10 more than a Touch Cover 2, which doesn't have movable keys like real keyboards.
The slick wireless mouse designed for the tablets is helpful, too, as is the docking station created to go with the Pro version of Surface.
The result is something that looks more like a laptop than an iPad or Android tablet. And that's what Microsoft wants, calling its tablets the most productive on the market.
The Surface 2 model even comes with a version of Microsoft Office, including the Outlook email and calendar program for the first time.
