Microsoft shows off Surface 2 Touch Cover technology

With the release of the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets, Microsoft ushered in the Windows 8.1 generation and proved its support for the RT platform will continue, at least for now. Along with the new tablets came new accessories, including such cutting-edge products as Blades. But the simple Touch cover, which is frequently overshadowed by its Type cover sibling, also got some love during this update.

Now Microsoft wishes to explain exactly what goes into this newly remade attachment. To give you a taste of the technology, the company enlisted Stevie Bathiche who, despite looking like a member of the latest hit rock band, is Director of Research in Microsoft’s Applied Sciences Group.

Bathiche explains how the company utilized a high-resolution grid to help the keyboard intuitively determine your intentions. This promises improved accuracy, faster typing speeds and enabling of gestures on keys.

In the video, released today, Bathiche gives a quick demo of all of these new enhancements, proving how the cursor moves by swiping across the keyboard and demonstrating a two-finger delete method that equals moving to the backspace button.

Microsoft promises that this is just the first in a series of videos it has planned for showing off all that has been done to improve the latest Surface devices. Naturally, it also proclaims the new Touch cover “a brilliant accessory for any Surface , a protective cover that easily clicks on to your device, is more rigid, features a full QWERTY keyboard that is now easier to type on, backlighting, and gestures that make you more productive”. That last part will be up to you for judgment, but the accessory certainly seems well thought out and worth at least a look upon your next visit to a company store.