Surface Earbuds. (Microsoft Photo)

Microsoft’s place in the battle of wireless earbud makers is going to be delayed a bit as the tech giant’s chief product officer announced Thursday that more time is needed to get the details right on Surface Earbuds.

Panos Panay tweeted that the worldwide launch of the product, first announced at Microsoft’s Surface devices event in October and expected sometime in 2019, will be pushed back to spring of next year.

The Surface Earbuds, reportedly priced at $249, feature touch sensors on each earbud to navigate music and calls. There are two mics embedded in each bud; there is 24 hours of battery life with an accompanying carrying case; and the Surface Earbuds take advantage of Microsoft’s cloud capabilities to translate more than 60 languages in real-time. The buds can also integrate with Office for real-time voice captioning during a presentation.

Microsoft, which debuted its $350 Surface Headphones last year, is clearly looking to keep up with others chasing Apple and its 2-year-old AirPods. Amazon has released its own wireless earbuds called Echo Buds, with Alexa voice technology, which sell for $129. Samsung also entered the arena with Galaxy Buds.

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