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Microsoft’s new Surface Slim Pen now has a rechargeable battery

Microsoft’s new Surface Slim Pen now has a rechargeable battery

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No more AAAA batteries

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Microsoft unveiled a new Surface Slim Pen at its annual hardware event today, which slots into the top of the Surface Pro X Type Cover keyboard. The pen charges wirelessly when docked, replacing the AAAA batteries of the older models. Taking the pen out will automatically pop up a context menu that lets you start drawing right away on apps like Whiteboard. The Slim Pen will be sold separately for $144.99, which is higher than the $99.99 price for the previous Surface Pen model.

Microsoft also previewed some new features to inking on the Office suite in Windows 10, adding the ability to make inline edits in Word. The Surface Pen can be used to delete and add text by crossing out lines within documents. You can also use inking to add comments in Office documents, and ink within Excel cells to input data, writing over them to update numbers. Data entry inking in Excel for web and desktop will be available spring 2020 for Office 365 subscribers. Other updates to Office include Ink Replay in Powerpoint, which is rolling out now.

Microsoft

Adobe also previewed its Fresco painting and illustration app on the Surface Pro X, revealing that other parts of Creative Cloud would be coming to the tablet soon.

The Surface Slim Pen will be compatible with Surface devices back to Surface Pro 3, in addition to the Surface Neo and Surface Hub 2S. It’ll come with its own charging base that connects via USB-C.

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