When Microsoft announced the new Surface and Surface Pro 2 tablets on Monday, they also revealed plans for new thinner and backlit versions of their Touch and Type Covers, and a unique Music Mix Cover that"s designed to let people quickly remix tunes with a physical add-on combined with an app. That certainly opens up the idea that the Surface could accept more and different types of add-ons.
In a new entry on the Surface blog, accompanied by the above previously released video, Microsoft reveals that it showed off the new Surface tablets earlier this month to a small group of students at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. Basically, Microsoft allowed the students to go nuts and come up with lots of different concepts for physical additions based on the Surface design.
The video offers very brief glimpses of what the students came up with, including a solar power panel for the tablet, a game pad, a business suite, an artist"s tablet, an interactive toy, a "Guitar Hero"-like controller, and many more. There are even glimpses of some kind of wrist-based device that could interact with an add-on.
It"s currently unknown if any of these concepts will be turned into real products, but if Microsoft can come up with a Music Mix Cover, it surely can do lots more. We are promised that a longer version of the video will be released next week so hopefully we will get more details on what the student group at the Art Center College of Design came up with for their Surface accessory concepts.
Source: Microsoft