Surface Pro 4
For those of you who’ve had the pleasure of using a Surface Pro 3, the latest model in the line up will be a welcome addition. The new model is thinner, faster and most powerful yet – said to be 50% more powerful than Apple’s MadBook Air. The sceren is also now slightly bigger at 12.3 inches, and with a new, higher resolution screen, your photos, videos and web browsing will be crisper than ever.
Even more importantly, the keyboard and stylus have been improved. Both were good on the Surface Pro 3, but the latest iteration hones these 2 accessories to near perfection. The device finally feels like a real laptop. A new front facing camera is also included which will let you log on using your face (and the new ‘Windows Hello’ feature) – and for those not prepared to go down that route, there is also a fingerprint reader. In addition to these new features, CPU and storage options are increased as well. The Surface Pro 4 will now ship with several types of Intel Processors, up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The new devices start at $1349, with pre-orders beginning 8th October, with the devices shipping on November 12th.
Surface Book
The most exciting hardware we’ve seen come out of Redmond in quite some time, this one is a MacBook Air killer. Microsoft’s first actual laptop (although it’s capable of acting as a tablet too). 13.5 inch touchscreen, 12 hour battery life and a Microsoft designed keyboard that’ll easily rival that of Apple’s offerings. A new feature designed into the hinge will also allow the screen to be turned around in any direction or completely detached. All of the hardware is stored within the screen component, however an additional graphics chip can also be built into the keyboard.
According to Microsoft, this new Surface book is twice as powerful as Apple’s latest MacBook Air – although it comes at a cost. Starting at $2295 (i5, 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM), it’s not exactly cheap.
New Lumia Smartphones
Windows based phones haven’t seen the market penetration that Microsoft had hoped for, although many believe this is primarily due to the lack of apps. This should change relatively quickly with the new models (950, 950XL and 550), which all run Windows 10. This means that apps developed for your desktop and tablet, will now run on your phone. The specifications of all models are high – fast CPUs, Quad-HD displays and a minimum of 32GB storage. 20 megapixel cameras should also keep those budding photographers happy. One of the coolest new features though (pardon the pun), is that all devices are to be liquid cooled! It wouldn’t be surprising to see other manufactures follow suit in the near future.
For those of you who’ve heard of continuum, you won’t be surprised to hear these new models all ship with it. Continuum is a feature that allows you to dock your phone and for it to act like a full blown computer (connected to a Microsoft display dock and monitor, of course). Standard Windows 10 will run, and all your apps will work – pretty amazing. All 3 models are expected to ship before the end of the year.
Hololens
The coolest toy showcased today is the Hololens. Microsoft’s new augmented reality glasses, allowing immersive game play and other functionality using a lightweight set of glasses. It’s completed untethered and works in any room, giving the user a customised experience and freedom to roam around their environment, using walls, furntiture etc as part of the experience. Hololens could bring a major change to the way we interact with games, apps and OS’s in the not too distant future.
Microsoft Band
While this is a useful piece of technology for fitness geeks out there, it’s probably the most insignificant news from Microsoft today. The new fitness band provides the tracking functionality of a Fitbit, although also includes access to Smartphone tools and several 3rd party apps (Uber and Twitter for a start). Prices have not been announced for Australia yet, however they go on sale today in the US from $249 USD.
If you’d like further information on any of these new devices, or like to place a pre-order, please contact us now.
