PrintIT issue48

32 PRINT.IT 01732 759725 COMPUTING Following October’s launch of the Windows Fall Creators Update, with its new mixed reality, 3D and inking features, hardware took centre stage at the two-day Microsoft Decoded enterprise event held at ExCeL London on October 31 and November 1, 2017. Highlights included the announcement of new Windows Surface devices and the roll-out of the Microsoft HoloLens self- contained holographic computer to 29 more countries. New Surface devices for the UK market include the Surface Book 2 detachable notebook, the most powerful Surface yet, and a ‘blazingly fast’ LTE version of the Surface Pro. These launches significantly expand the Surface range, which includes the Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, Surface Book, Surface Studio desktop device and Surface Hub interactive whiteboard, plus accessories like the Surface Pen, Surface Arc Mouse and Surface Dial input devices. Greater product choice following the launch of Surface Laptop contributed to a 12% rise in Surface revenues in the quarter ending September 30, 2017. Microsoft will be hoping its new devices continue this trend, especially amongst business customers who are likely to welcome the extra power and longer battery life (up to 17 hours) of the Surface Book 2. With a choice of operating mode (laptop, view and tablet) and input device including the Surface Pen and Surface Dial, the Surface Book 2 is nothing if not versatile. Add to that its high-speed Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, which let users run high performance software and take advantage of mixed reality using a headset and motion controller, and it is easy to see why Microsoft is excited by the new products. The extra power of these devices and seamless switching between user interfaces hold the promise of a fluid, high performance computing experience. With the roll-out of the Surface Pro with LTE Advanced, featuring download speeds of up to 450 Mbps and no-compromise battery life, business users can look forward to non-stop productivity even when away from the office. Maintaining your flow In a briefing with select UK journals, including PrintIT, Panos Panay, Microsoft Vice President for Surface, said that it was no longer sensible to talk about hardware and software separately. Describing hardware as a stage for the software, he said that Microsoft’s new products bring hardware and software together in a way that allows users to focus on their ideas rather than having to think about the device they are using. He added: “Innovation is when devices disappear and ideas come to the fore”. As an example, Panay referred to the broad choice of user inputs now supported by Windows, including keyboards and mice, touch and ink, gamepads and motion controllers, and natural human inputs such as gaze, voice and gestures, which, increasingly, users can move between seamlessly as they change working position or mode. He specifically mentioned the Surface Pen, pointing out that users can now pick it up and start using it instantly, without first having to select Pen mode on their device. Mixed reality Lorraine Bardeen, Microsoft General Manager for Windows and HoloLens Experiences, expanded on this theme in relation to mixed reality, which Microsoft sees as the next revolution in computing. She said: “There are times when software and hardware come together. That’s what we’re seeing with HoloLens and mixed reality.” Bardeen added that HoloLens is bringing the benefits of digitisation to a whole class of workers in manufacturing, service, retail and healthcare that to date has been poorly served by technology. “There are more than two billion people working in ‘first line’ work who need to use digital tools but who With its new devices, Microsoft is trying to make hardware disappear and ideas come to the fore Staying in the flow Users can now pick up the Surface Pen and start using it instantly Microsoft announced an LTE Advanced version of the Surface Pro, giving professionals no-compromise connectivity when away from the office