MS Fall Hardware Event - Creators Focus
Yesterday, MS held their Fall Hardware Event in NYC. During the event one big theme rang through and that was a focus on "creators" and many of the new announcements reflected that theme..
First, MS announced that the Windows 10 Redstone 2 branch will now be officially called the Creators Update when it releases in March/April of 2017.
Next MS placed a focus on 3D with several new announcements starting with a revival of one of Windows oldest included apps - Paint. The new Paint 3D is completely new app with the capability to work with included and captured 3D images and insert existing 2D content. There will also be new mobile apps that will allow you to capture 3D images. MS demo'd walking around a model castle capturing the 3D image into Paint 3D and then working with the content. Paint 3D will also support direct 3D printing.
Continuing on the 3D theme MS announced new VR headsets coming from major OEM partners Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus and Acer. These new $299 VR headsets provide six degrees of freedom (6DOF) movement tracking which helps determines if you are moving in space or just turning your head. They will be available about the same time as the Windows 10 Creators Update.
The third group of announcements focused on gaming with improved Xbox Game Streaming and Dolby ATMOS support for the Xbox One S.
Fourth was a new team collaboration capability around Windows People where you can drag specific folks from your People app to the task bar and then have multi-mode communication capability along with the ability to "tap" someone on the shoulder to start a conversation. This is an interesting take on the whole Messaging/Skype/Lync mashup that MS has been trying to figure out..
The focus then shifted to the Surface line with several announcements. First was updated Surface Book laptops which support Core i7 CPU and larger batteries providing up to 16 hours of battery life. Prices start @ $2,400 for the new i7 Models.
Next was the all new Surface Studio All-in-One (AIO) device. The Studio is MS's attempt to redefine the platform and focus on the Touch and Ink capabilities of Windows 10. I've written a separate post on the Studio - so won't provide any additional detail here - other than the price range of $2,999 - $4,199.
Last but not least was the Surface Dial. This $99 haptic feedback input device is a context sensitive menu/mouse wheel device that works with all Surface devices (after an upcoming firmware upgrade). Where it really shines however is with the Studio where you can actually place it on the screen and it will instantly show you contextual options for the app/mode you are in. very slick.
All in all this was a very interesting stance that MS is taking. They are focusing towards an area of the market that for years was considered Apple's main market - creative folks, using Photoshop and other media driven apps.
MS has been working to redefine the PC and the way that folks interact via touch, pen, camera, cortana, etc. You can see in their latest marketing efforts the focus on creative folks like animators and stage designers utilizing these new capabilities and stating specifically that these are things they simply can't do with a Mac.
To me what came from this was also a definition of where the focus for the rest of Redstone 2 will be.
MS has been experimenting with Touch, Ink, etc for over 10 years now and it finally seems as though all the pieces are finally starting to come together. The big question will be - Will capabilities like Touch, Ink, Hello, Gaming and VR drive PC sales and will customers pay the high premium for these additional capabilities ?
First, MS announced that the Windows 10 Redstone 2 branch will now be officially called the Creators Update when it releases in March/April of 2017.
Next MS placed a focus on 3D with several new announcements starting with a revival of one of Windows oldest included apps - Paint. The new Paint 3D is completely new app with the capability to work with included and captured 3D images and insert existing 2D content. There will also be new mobile apps that will allow you to capture 3D images. MS demo'd walking around a model castle capturing the 3D image into Paint 3D and then working with the content. Paint 3D will also support direct 3D printing.
Continuing on the 3D theme MS announced new VR headsets coming from major OEM partners Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus and Acer. These new $299 VR headsets provide six degrees of freedom (6DOF) movement tracking which helps determines if you are moving in space or just turning your head. They will be available about the same time as the Windows 10 Creators Update.
The third group of announcements focused on gaming with improved Xbox Game Streaming and Dolby ATMOS support for the Xbox One S.
Fourth was a new team collaboration capability around Windows People where you can drag specific folks from your People app to the task bar and then have multi-mode communication capability along with the ability to "tap" someone on the shoulder to start a conversation. This is an interesting take on the whole Messaging/Skype/Lync mashup that MS has been trying to figure out..
The focus then shifted to the Surface line with several announcements. First was updated Surface Book laptops which support Core i7 CPU and larger batteries providing up to 16 hours of battery life. Prices start @ $2,400 for the new i7 Models.
Next was the all new Surface Studio All-in-One (AIO) device. The Studio is MS's attempt to redefine the platform and focus on the Touch and Ink capabilities of Windows 10. I've written a separate post on the Studio - so won't provide any additional detail here - other than the price range of $2,999 - $4,199.
Last but not least was the Surface Dial. This $99 haptic feedback input device is a context sensitive menu/mouse wheel device that works with all Surface devices (after an upcoming firmware upgrade). Where it really shines however is with the Studio where you can actually place it on the screen and it will instantly show you contextual options for the app/mode you are in. very slick.
All in all this was a very interesting stance that MS is taking. They are focusing towards an area of the market that for years was considered Apple's main market - creative folks, using Photoshop and other media driven apps.
MS has been working to redefine the PC and the way that folks interact via touch, pen, camera, cortana, etc. You can see in their latest marketing efforts the focus on creative folks like animators and stage designers utilizing these new capabilities and stating specifically that these are things they simply can't do with a Mac.
To me what came from this was also a definition of where the focus for the rest of Redstone 2 will be.
MS has been experimenting with Touch, Ink, etc for over 10 years now and it finally seems as though all the pieces are finally starting to come together. The big question will be - Will capabilities like Touch, Ink, Hello, Gaming and VR drive PC sales and will customers pay the high premium for these additional capabilities ?
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