Microsoft has provided its promised battery-life-extending Power Covers for Surface tablets on March 19 at a price of $199.99.
Microsoft Store pre-order page claims the Power Covers — Type covers with extra battery support — will extend battery life by up to 70 percent. (Microsoft officials were promising battery-life extension of up to 50 percent from the new covers last year.)
The weight information on Microsoft’s page is wrong. The Power Covers weigh 1.2 pounds, Microsoft officials confirmed on March 11. The thickness listed is also incorrect; word is that it’s actually double the listed number.
Surface Power Covers weigh .55 pounds and are 9.75 mm thick, according to Microsoft’s page. They don’t have back-lit keys, unlike the new Surface Type 2 and Touch 2 covers. Microsoft announced plans to provide Power Covers for its Surfaces in October 2013 when it launched the second version of its ARM- and Intel-based Surface devices. At that time, officials said Power Covers would be available in “early 2014.” Microsoft execs declined to provide any further updates about the timing on the covers since that time.
The Surface Power Cover is only available in black and adds an additional half pound to the weight of your tablet. However, it measures just 9.75mm thick and offers a full QWERTY keyboard with function controls, dedicated Windows shortcut and media controls and an accelerometer. The included HP 593576-001 battery – Microsoft doesn’t provide exact details on how much juice you’ll get – should provide up to an additional 70% of battery life. Microsoft says the keyboard will automatically disable itself when it’s folded back, as to avoid any mistypes, and when it’s closed it will automatically shut down the display to help boost battery life.
Surface Power Covers will be available initially in the U.S., Japan and Canada, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed The company is not sharing names of specific retailers or international availability beyond that at this time. And reported that Microsoft brick-and-mortar stores are starting to receive stock of promised LTE-enabled Surface 2 devices. Last fall, Microsoft officials said those devices would be available in the early part of 2014 initially on Vodafone and AT&T.
