Image of Surface keyboard with heart button appears online

An image has surfaced online of a new Microsoft keyboard that has a button that invokes the emoji bar in Windows. There is also an image of a numpad for the keyboard.

The images have been put online by Twitter user WalkingCat. It is not known where the image comes from. The photo shows a Surface keyboard, but without the numpad next to it. WalkingCat late see a second photo on which the numpad can be seen separately.

The photo of the keyboard has a new button at the bottom right. It is located where the second Windows key is normally located. The photo shows an icon with a square on it with a heart. According to a trademark application from Microsoft, that icon is intended to make the emoji bar appear in Windows. That icon is now also used in Windows 10X. The icon also appeared in an Insider preview of Windows 10.

It is not the first time that Microsoft has experimented with keyboards where the right Windows key is replaced. Last year, the company also released a keyboard with a physical emoji button. For the time being, that doesn’t seem to be the standard for new Windows keyboards. The license that manufacturers must purchase has not yet changed and no new license has yet been announced for the new buttons.