5:09: That appears to be everything, folks. Four brand new Surface products, much of which appear to be substantial hardware refreshes and one that we were completely not expecting. Keep it locked here in the coming hours for our first impressions of all these devices.
5:08: Correction! The Surface Pro 6 and Surface Laptop 2 are available for pre-order right now and will hit shelves on October 16. The Surface Studio 2 and Surface Headphones release dates and prices are still unknown – "coming soon," Panay says. He has also shown off a new subscription service for Surface owners, Surface All Access, that brings all of Microsoft's apps and services to you for $24.99 a month.
5:04: They're Surface Headphones, people! Complete with Cortana integration and hands-free calling in a gorgeous, silver set of over-ear cans. They're also noise cancelling with 13 levels of cancellation. The cans also have four beam-forming microphones and four active noise cancelling microphones.
5:02: Panay isn't done just yet! He's got one more product to show off that we weren't expecting.
4:56: The Surface Studio 2 has been updated with Nvidia Pascal graphics, so 10 Series Nvidia GPUs will be inside. This might come as a blow to fans of the latest and greatest, but this is par for the course when it comes to Surface Studio and Surface. Microsoft's product development cycle appears to be a bit out of sync with graphics processor cycles.
4:54: Microsoft's Stevie Bathiche is talking up how it managed to make the Surface Studio 2 display 38% brighter as well as up its contrast by 22%. Part of it involves brand new transistor technology beneath the panel.
4:51: The Surface Studio 2 is official! We're still waiting on internal details, but we do know that it packs Intel processors and improved graphics, as well as an even better screen.
4:48: Panay is now back on stage with a Surface Studio announcement. Here comes the Surface Studio 2! "More of the high-end graphics you need, more of the brilliant screen that begins to break boundaries," Panay says.
4:43: Now, the brand new Your Phone app is being touted as playing a key role in this cross-device collaboration. Even better, in a future update, Windows 10 will be able to completely emulate your phone's screen an interface, allowing remote control of your phone from your PC. It's currently known simply as 'app mirroring,' which we've seen done in more limited capacities by companies like Dell.
4:39: If you're an Android user, Microsoft's own launcher is where it's at, apparently. Soon, Microsoft's popular Timeline feature will make it to that platform, which will follow you across devices so long as you're logged in via your Microsoft account.
4:36: The general gist here is for users to live within Microsoft apps and services across devices. This way, things like calendar appointments will persist across your devices, if used through Microsoft's Outlook Calendar feature known as 'To Dos.'
4:33: Now, Panay is talking up working with Windows 10 across whatever companion mobile devices you're using. The head of Microsoft's mobile services team is about to walk us through these new solutions.
4:30: The Surface Laptop 2 is 85% faster than before, thanks new quad-core Intel processors, as well as all-day battery life. The Surface Pro 6 will start at $899, the Surface Laptop 2 will start at $999, and both will be available for pre-order on October 16.
4:27: Next up is the Surface Laptop 2, which now is 85% faster than before. It has a display packing 3.4 million pixels, math we're not about to work out right now as to screen resolution, as well as a 1,500:1 contrast ratio behind the thinnest LCD ever applied to a traditional laptop.
4:25: Panay says that the new Surface Pro 6 is 37% faster than the last, weighs only 1.7 pounds and lasts for 3.5 hours longer than the iPad Pro.
4:22: Now, it's time to talk devices. First up is Surface Pro, which is now confirmed to come in a new all-black color palette. It's confirmed to be the Surface Pro 6 – oddly enough.
4:20: Panay's drawing another anecdote from an audience member, an environmentalist that uses Surface products for their portability and ease-of-use – even at the Great Wall of China.
4:16: No one can dispute that Panay is an inspired designer and product maker. He literally just grabbed a Surface device from a journalist in the stands to demonstrate a point.
4:13: Now, we're getting into the good stuff. Panos Panay has taken the stage to talk up the latest Surface products we're about to see. Panay is drawing an analogy between his daughter's fine tuned piano to Microsoft's devices tuning themselves to your needs.
4:11: It's official! Mehdi says that the Windows 10 October 2018 Update will launch today for everyone.
4:07: Microsoft wants people to use its technology to organize their whole lives, Mehdi says. In case you had any doubt, we're definitely seeing new Surface devices today, but also new efforts to merge the worlds of iOS and Android as they relate to Windows 10.
4:05: "Life interrupts work, work interrupts life," says Mehdi. So, how is Microsoft going to bring harmony to this dynamic?
4:03: Now, we're looking at a promotional video trying to tell us how technology fits into working professionals' lives, and naturally how Microsoft is here to solve that problem for us.
4:00: Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi has taken the stage to kick us off, with an anecdotal story about the application of Microsoft tech in his home. You know, the usual stuff.
3:58: It looks like Panos Panay, Microsoft Surface devices team lead, is in the house. Things are getting underway now...
3:50: Unfortunately, there's nothing about this space's furniture or style that's a giveaway as to what's going to be shown today. However, it looks awfully similar to Microsoft's dedicated event space at which we saw the Surface Go for the first time.
3:46 ET: We've managed to find a seat here in Microsoft's NYC event space. Just moments now until the festivities begin!
*Editor's Note: all times are listed in Eastern time zone.
In mere minutes, Microsoft is expected to pull the curtain back on a number of refreshed Surface devices. Namely, we're expecting to see 2018 updates in the form of a new Surface Pro 5 (or 6 ... or numberless), a Surface Laptop 2 and a Surface Studio 2.
We're also anticipating Microsoft opening the floodgates for Windows 10 October 2018 Update downloads at the same time, considering how the Insider Preview build is officially RTM (ready to manufacture) and October 2 is technically a 'Patch Tuesday' for Microsoft, when updates to Windows 10 generally occur.
Since Microsoft is not live streaming this event, we're going to bring the news to you the 'old-fashioned' way: with a live blog. Yours truly will be in attendance, bringing you the latest details, insights and photos from the keynote's proceedings.
Be sure to have this page open come 4pm ET (1pm PT; 9pm BST), which is when the keynote kicks off in New York City, for all of the latest regarding Microsoft Surface. And, if you arrive a little early, we'll have some early queueing photos and hot takes for you to enjoy. See you then!
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