London Residents got a little extra spectacle today, as Microsoft unveiled a giant scale replica of its Surface Pro 2 in Trafalgar Square. The huge Surface, complete with a functioning Type Cover 2, is the latest publicity stunt by Microsoft in its bid to grab a market share for its latest tablet.
UK Rapper Dizzee Rascal was on hand to show off the massive Microsoft device, Skyping onstage and generally pumping things up. The Grimes rap pioneer gave an obligatory soundbyte too:
“I’m never in one place for long – whether it’s in the studio, on tour, I’m always travelling about and now I can combine work and play on one device – works for me!”
The giant Type Cover 2 is a fully functional keyboard, and a bunch of kids were allowed on stage to play with it. They played a spelling game, hopping onto the keys to spell out the words. Whether or not this helps move any Surfaces, it’s a pretty cool toy to be sitting in the heart of London.
Microsoft’s Surface Pro 2 dropped recently, and Redmond’s hoping to actually turn a profit this time around. The hardware’s been impressively refreshed, sporting a full 1080p touchscreen, and an Intel Haswell core i5 chip and Microsoft has addressed battery life issues with beefed up longevity.
Microsoft hopes to carve out some marketshare in the high-end tablet arena, going up against Apple and its new iPads. Yesterday, a Microsoft exec touted the Surface’s inclusion of MS Office and its superior design for productivity applications.
We’ll see if this latest Microsoft stunts gets any traction. Londoners, what do you think of the giant Surface in your city?
[Via: Gizmodo]