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A few weeks ago, Microsoft’s Corporate VP of Devices Panos Panay gave an hour-long tour of the company’s Surface Lab, giving Microsoft enthusiasts a detailed look at manufacturing and prototyping processes that go into designing and producing Microsoft’s hybrid devices and their accessories such as the Surface Type Covers.
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In a blog post on the Windows Devices Blog today, Panay explains that a well-received prototype of a Seattle Seahawks Surface Pro 4 cover keyboard has lead the company to introduce today a range of 32 Surface Special Edition NFL Type Covers, just in time for the for the 2016-2017 season:
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The new Surface Special Edition NFL Type Covers.
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The backstory behind these new covers which are officially licensed by the NFL is quite interesting, as Panay explains:
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We try lots of things out with Surface, and have mocked up a lot of different types of Type Covers for Surface Pro. One that I thought was really cool was a Seattle Seahawks keyboard that someone on our team made in the model shop. I had a chance to meet Paul Allen, gave it to him, and he tweeted a picture. The response we got was exciting – on Twitter and from coaches and players. So we started to dig in on how we can do this for all the teams and NFL fans. It’s a natural place to explore given our relationship with the NFL and how Surface Pro is used on sidelines, in the coaches’ booth, and by many teams for playbooks etc. Oh, and the Surface team is FULL of NFL fans.
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These new Surface Pro Special Edition NFL Type Cover seems like a good way to expand the partnership between Microsoft and NFL which uses the hybrid tablets to give players, coaches, assistants, and announcers access to dynamic information almost instantly. For die-hard NFL fans, these covers are also a nice complement to the NFL-inspired Surface Pro 4 skins that the US Microsoft Store gave away for free along your purchase earlier this year.
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The Microsoft Surface Special Edition NFL Type Covers are available today in the US and Canada for $159.99 at select Microsoft Stores and the online Microsoft Store, and they will be available at Best Buy and Amazon starting August 29.
\n\nFurther reading: Microsoft, NFL, Surface Pro 4, Type Cover