Microsoft has announced the Surface Pro 2 as part of its New York tablet-centric press event.

According to the company, it is "faster than 95 per cent of laptops on the market today". Microsoft claims that it's actually a full PC in a tablet's body and the screen is 50 per cent more accurate in colour reproduction than the last model so can be used by design professionals more effectively.

The company claims that it performs 20 per cent faster, with a 50 per cent hike in graphical ability.

When coupled with a new Power Cover, the whole device gets two and a half times the amount of battery life than just the tablet alone, but that even is 60 per cent more efficient than the first-generation Surface Pro.

A full-sized USB 3.0 can be found on the side, as well as microSD card slot and a display out port on the tablet itself.

Other features include a fourth generation Intel Core i5 processor and the tablet will be offered in different configurations. The 64GB and 128GB models will come with 4GB of RAM, while the Pro 2s with storage space of 256GB or 512GB will sport 8GB of RAM. They will retail from $899 in the US, £719 in the UK and available in many countries around the world from 22 October. China will follow in November.

All Surface Pro 2 owners will get an additional 200GB of SkyDrive storage for free with their tablet, plus a year of free voice calling to landlines in over 60 countries via Skype.