5:00 pm: The 5:20pm on the card turns out to be the time that I'll get some hands-on time with Surface. Keep an eye out for a hands-on story coming soon. Thanks for tuning in!

4:57 pm: Ballmer is thanking everyone for being part of the event. And a Surface ad is playing with some very loud bass. Whoa, my ears hurt, but at least it looks cool. The kickstand really seems like a big deal for the Surface. Same the Touch Cover and its clicking sound. And that’s it folks! The presentation is over and it looks like press will get a chance to get some hands-on time.

4:56 pm: Ballmer is thanking Steven and Mike and Panos and their teams. “I was asked in the last few days here, “Why now?,” Ballmer says. “We took the time to get Surface right, and create something special. Because of windows 8 the Surface is a PC and the Surface is a tablet and the surface is something new that we think that people will absolutely love.” It sounds like we’ll get a chance to see and touch the Surface! Stations are set up next door so we can see the work that went into the Surface.

4:54 pm: Now Sinofsky is mentioning availability. Surface for Windows RT will be available in 32gb and 64gb, and will be priced comparably to other Windows RT devices. Windows 8 Pro will come in 64gb and 128gb and will be priced comparably to other Windows 8 Pro. Surface will be available through Microsoft’s physical stores in the US as well as select online stores, once Windows 8 launches. “Welcome everybody to Surface,” Sinofsky says. He leaves the stage and Ballmer is back. There’s tons of applause and cheers.

4:54 pm: Panay is leaving the stage and Steven Sinofsky is back on.

4:52 pm: “We really understand how to create a great typing experience,” Panay says. The technology behind Touch Cover is seven layers squeezed into the cover. Touch Cover knows the grams of force coming out of your hand. As you put pressure on the keys, the Touch Cover is actually measures the pressure, it’s 10x faster as measuring that than any keyboard you could purchase today, according to Panay.

Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

More Touch Cover love. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:51 pm: Touch Cover has an accelerometer built into it, so it knows when you pull it back. You never have to take it off.

The Touch Cover. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:46 pm: More on the VaporMg case. Panay is holding up his room key for comparison. VaporMg is melted magnesium molded down very thin. “Every micron matters within Microsoft Surface,” Panay says. “The best part of VaporMg is not about molding to .65mm, the best part is the smoothness and the finish.” The surface finish on the product is “perfect” according to Panay. “When you put it in your hands, it feels elegant. When you touch it, you’re going to want to hold it, I promise you,” Panay says.

4:46 pm: Panay is talking a lot about the kickstand. Now he’s talking about the sound of the kickstand. That’s a lot of kickstand love.

4:44 pm: When you look at this product, every line is calculated and built perfectly on the device. But the challenge: We had to bring creativity and productivity to foslk like yourself. We knew that if we didn’t put the kickstand in perfectly, it would be a good product. When you need the kickstand it’s there, when you don’t, it’s invisible.

4:43 pm: Panay says that we’re going to get to meet the team who made Surface, to talk about the design. “This was built for Windows 8,” Panay says. “It was important for us for the Windows software to rise to the surface. It gives you the best experience possible when the hardware fades away,” Panay says.

Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:41 pm: There’s shots of a factory where Surface is being built. “What we’re making here is really special,” someone in the video says. “When you pick this unit up, you visually understand it’s high quality,” another says. “When you’re able to connect some sort of user experience to this all the way to atoms, that’s when you see new experiences evolve,” another says. Rounds of applause for the video.

Panay talks about the Surface. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:40 pm: Now Panos Panay is taking the stage to tell some stories about the Surface product. “I’m recognizing an entire team at Redmond waiting for your blog posts,” Panay says. Now there’s a video of the team who built Surface. “We brought some of the best people at Microsoft together to make this awesome device,” Panay says in the video.

4:39pm: There’s the Surface for Windows RT and Surface for Windows 8 Pro, as well as a bunch of covers in different colors.

4:39 pm: There’s another Surface cover called the Type Cover – it has a key switch that has a 1.5mm travel built into the thinnest package. It’s fully compatible with windows and has a full modern trackpad. This completes the Surface family of products, according to Anguilo.

Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:37 pm: The resolution is 1080p. But there is also a display port, which gives Surface the capabilities of a full-power PC. Anguilo shows off Adobe Photoshop Lighroom running on Surface.

4:35 pm: Surface also supports digital ink. Anguilo is demonstrating how you can write directly on a document using a stylus. The ink is being sampled at 600dpi, so it keeps your handwriting really smooth. “It almost feels like it’s writing directly on the screen,” Anguilo says. “The distance between the stylus and where I see the ink is only .7 mm.” The page also doesn’t move underneath his hand when he’s writing – Windows sees the pen and doesn’t take in touch from a hand. The crowd claps.

Perimeter venting on the Surface Pro. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:33 pm: The Surface for Windows 8 Pro is very similar to the Surface Sinofsky showed off earlier. It has the kickstand and a cover with a full on keyboard. It’s a bit thicker though, at 17 mm. It’s powered by Intel’s Ivy Bridge processor. And it features something called perimeter venting, which allows the PC to keep cool.

4:32 pm: Now Michael Anguilo is taking the stage. He’s showing off another member of the Windows 8 family – Surface for Windows 8 Pro. It’s for people who work everyday to create and design things. “It shows the same pride and craftsmanship,” Anguilo says. It has a full Cleartype full HD display. It’s a combination of pixel geometry, rendering, and optical bonding technology that makes it so your eye cannot distinguish between individual pixels. It looks like Microsoft’s take on Apple’s Retina display!

4:31 pm: The tablet is built to let you use all of the applications you want – including Photoshop. It runs on the latest Intel processors. It’s also going to work on Nvidia processors.

Sinofsky shows off word processing on the Surface. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:30 pm: There’s also a camera on Surface, angled at 22 degrees. Sinofsky is showing off how you can dock the camera next to Word Doc, so you ca have a meeting where you read off of your document.

4:29 pm: Surprise, the cover is a full-size keyboard! People clap and cheer around the room. The keyboard even has a built-in trackpad. With the stand and the keyboard, it’s a full-on PC. No compromises.

4:27 pm: The display is made of Gorilla Glass. But Surface still has a cover, and it’s designed to be an integral part of the tablet. It’s a magnetic cover, “Click,” Sinofsky says. It’s not unlike the Apple Smart Cover. The cover is 3 mm, and combined with Surface it’s just over 12 mm thick.

Sinofsky and Surface. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:26 pm: Sinofsky is showing off the Netflix app on the Surface PC. To stream so well, Surface needs WiFi – it has two antennas – so it provides the best WiFi on any tablet today. Today, when you have your tablet, you have to hold it, Sinofsky says. He’s talking about add-on stands and how heavy and bulky they are. He says that the stand should be integral to a device. And now he’s pulling out a stand from Surface. It’s integrated, and made out of the same material as the rest of the tablet.

4:25 pm: Movies and entertainment look great as well, says Sinofsky. It looks like there’s a bit of a glitch with the Surface he’s using and he pulls out another from the desk on stage. Magic!

Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

Up close with Surface. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:24 pm: It’s great for entertainment, Sinofsky says. He’s running Internet Explorer. It's 10.6 inch optically bonded wide-screen display. Sorry, I was wrong about the 7-inch!

4:23 pm: Surface is super thin, at 9.3mm, just thin enough for a full-size USB port. The edges are beveled away at 22 degrees, so the PC fades into the background. “It feels natural in your hands,” Sinofsky says. It’s the first PC with a full magnesium case, called VaporMG Case. It’s just under 1.54 pounds. The case is one of a kind and is scratch-resistant, and accentuates the unique feel of Surface.

Ballmer and Microsoft Surface. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:23 pm: Just as we have reimagined Windows we have also reimagined the tablet. “We see a tablet that represents a unique vision, for a seamless experience for creation and entertainment,” Sinofsky says. It’s a PC that is a great tablet and a tablet that is a great PC.

4:22 pm: It’s a place to surface ideas, enjoyments, and more. “Let’s now learn more from Steven Sinofsky and the Microsoft Surface team,” Ballmer introduces Sinofsky to the stage.

Microsoft surface tablet. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:21 pm: This is the new Microsoft Surface, Ballmers says. And in his hands he’s holding what looks like a 7-inch tablet with Windows 8 Metro on it.

4:21 pm: An interesting video is playing with some crystal reshaping itself on the screen. And the words Surface appear. Looks like the Surface tablet is reality.

4:20 pm: We wanted to give Windows 8 its own hardware innovation. “What is this innovation?” Ballmer asks. “It’s something new, it’s a whole new division of computing devices from Microsoft.”

4:20 pm: Developers will be able to target the most consumers with Windows 8 than any other non-phone platform.

4:19 pm: We see the combination of software and hardware working together in our PC ecosystem, Ballmer says. OEM partnerships are essential to the reimagination of Windows. The ultimate landing point of the PC experience is through our partnerships with OEMs – HP, Dell, etc. OEMs will deliver more PCs this year: 375 million Windows PCs estimated to ship this year according to IDC.

Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:18 pm: Our most successful hardware product is the Xbox.

4:17 pm: Ballmer says he believes that the machine experience can be made better when software and hardware work together. Take the mouse for example: Early reviews of mice were not very positive, Ballmer says, it was so new that Canadian customs quarantined the Microsoft mouse for four weeks, thinking that it was alive.

4:16 pm: A video is now playing that looks back at the hardware that Microsoft has created. They’re mentioning the mouse, keyboards, and Xbox. Xbox surface makes an appearance, as well as HD computer cameras and Kinect.

4:16 pm: A video is now playing that looks back at the hardware that Microsoft has created. They’re mentioning the mouse, keyboards, and Xbox. Microsoft Surface makes an appearance, as well as HD computer cameras and Kinect.

Steve Ballmer onstage. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:15 pm: "Today we want to add a new piece to that Windows 8 story," Ballmer says. "At our foundation Bill Gates and Paul Allen made a bet on software, but at the same time it was always clear that the way that we do software would require us to push hardware, even in ways that hardware manufacturers hadn’t yet imagined. Hardware and software push and pull each other forward."

4:14 pm: "We’re incredibly gratified by the enthusiastic response to Windows 8, from our OEM partners, developers, and millions of consumers who have downloaded the previews. The new OS is hot. The new user interface and store are getting a lot of interest."

4:13: "With Windows 8 we’ve reimagined Windows products, to power a new type of PC. We approached the Windows product design in a forward looking way. We’ve designed it for a world we know, where most people are mobile and people want access to information and the ability to create content from anywhere and anytime."

4:12pm: "While we are optimists to the core, Windows has exceeded our most optimistic expectations. It now powers more than 1 billion PCs – from desktops, to laptops, to network stations, from homes to schools to government, literally around the world."

Steve Ballmer at Microsoft's Los Angeles event. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:11 pm: Steve says: The past several years have seen great change for Microsoft: We’ve ushered in cloud computing, embraced mobility, and redefined entertainment... Windows is the heart and soul of Microsoft, from Windows PC to Windows servers to Windows Phone. Windows has proven to be the most flexible, general purpose software ever created, spurring off an ecosystem of unrivaled success.

4:11 pm: The lights have dimmed and Steve Ballmer is taking the stage! Round of applause for Steve.

Maybe it's a dual-screened tablet. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:09 pm: The screens are flashing a lot of “tablet-like” imagery. Maybe a dual tablet, reminiscent of Courier? No, we aren’t reading too much into it.

It looks a bit like a fashion show set up. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

4:05 pm: The stage reminds me of a fashion show – there’s a large stage and a runway going down the middle. Maybe Microsoft will debut some cool threads?

4:00 pm: Michael Povarb, a freelance photographer from San Fernando Valley paper, aptly pointed out that at a Microsoft event, it’s funny that the majority of the laptops are Apple MacBooks.

What does it mean? Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

3:56 pm: When we walked in we got a mystery card with the time “5:20pm” written on one side. PR people told us this would be explained later... Wonder what it means?

3:54 pm: Still no sign of any Microsoft big shots. The room is full of all the usual journalistic suspects. Microsoft has definitely generated a lot of buzz with this event.

Mood lighting. Photo: Alexandra Chang/Wired

3:51 pm: The press is inside Milk Studio and there’s a large screen with different colors and patterns playing on it. Several screens line the wall playing the same screensaver-type designs. Very Metro-esque. Microsoft has opted for some pleasant pop, including Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know.

3:46 pm: Sorry for the delay guys. Everything's going great on our end – now it's time to get set up and get this thing started.

Illustration: Darpa

3:41 pm: The line is moving and we are headed in.

3:30 pm: It's 3:30 and we're still in line. Come on Microsoft, let us in!

Defendant Omar Khadr, foreground, watches testimony in his Oct. 28, 2010, pretrial hearing at Guantanamo Bay.

Image: Janet Hamlin

3:19 pm: There's 11 minutes to go, and we're outside of Milk Studio right now. There's a long line of media folks here with us. Nobody knows what's going on and there's absolutely no visible Microsoft signage from outside. For all we know, we could be waiting at the DMV. The mystery continues!

LOS ANGELES — Today Microsoft will be hosting a super-secret product announcement at Milk Studios, a media company that "stands at the crossroads of the fashion, music, photography and film worlds," according to signage on the studio's website.

Wired will be liveblogging the event starting at 3:30 p.m. PST – or as soon as the doors open, and we can take our seats.

While Microsoft is keeping hush-hush on the details of its announcement, several reports suggest that the company will unveil its own Microsoft-branded tablet. The latest report posits that the tablet will be part of a new hardware platform called Xbox Surface – one part "tablet computing device" and one part "stationary computing device."

The conventional wisdom on Xbox Surface is that Microsoft's Xbox Live service would stream entertainment media to the tablet, as it already does to the Xbox 360 gaming console. But many of the new platform's hardware specs (at least what's been reported – and, keep in mind, this could all be hogwash) don't square with what one would expect from current consumer electronics.

For example, the Xbox Surface tablet is reportedly spec'd to include 288MB of RAM. That's not just a curiously specific megabyte count, it's also much less memory than what's currently shipping in any commercial tablet. But who knows, maybe 256MB is system memory, and another 32MB is used for fluff.

And then there's the hard drive in the "stationary computing device." The report has it being a 10,000 rpm SCSI drive. This is an odd parts choice considering SCSI is all but dead (at least in consumer electronics) and no mass-market media player runs platters that spin so fast. 5,400 rpm is much more common. And much less expensive.

Does Microsoft know something we don't know? Clearly it does – including the very nature of its Monday event.

Gadget Lab staff writer Alexandra Chang (@alexandra_chang) will be in Los Angeles to cover the action in real-time, while staff writer Christina Bonnington (@redgirlsays) will be providing blogging support from Wired HQ in San Francisco.

Stay tuned and keep refreshing this page for the latest updates from the event.