While much of Microsoft’s announcements at its Surface & AI event yesterday were expected, the company quietly revealed details on two new devices for pros.
The first is the Surface Hub 3. The new version of the collaboration device for pros is both an interactive whiteboard and a virtual meeting platform. The Surface Hub 3, available in 50 and 85 inches, works with Microsoft Teams and is designed to fit into a conference room where it replaces traditional televisions and monitors.
The Surface Hub 3 features new features, according to Microsoft, a new processor and a new GPU, new mounting and fixing possibilities, an active connection with two Surface Hub Pens, two microphone arrays and pairs of speakers, a PixelSense 4K display with anti-reflective coating. But perhaps the most important innovation is the 50-inch version’s smart rotation and portrait mode option.
Also new is the Cloud IntelliFrame feature that allows remote meeting participants to see users more clearly through a video feed that separates people into Zoom-like boxes. Backgrounds are removed and the size of the videos is adjusted, allowing participants to blend in with the people in person.
Surface 4 for Business, Microsoft’s smallest two-in-one detachable laptop
In addition to the Hub 3, Microsoft also announced the Surface 4 for Business, the company’s smallest two-in-one detachable laptop. Although the Surface 4 looks largely identical on the outside to the previous generation, it benefits from some pretty significant internal updates.
Microsoft
While the Surface 3 was equipped with a dual-core Core i3-10100Y processor, the Surface 4 is equipped with a quad-core Intel N200 processor. The 4 GB RAM of the previous model is doubled to 8 GB with this new version, and the storage capacity can be extended to 256 GB, double the previous generation.
Microsoft also touts the Surface 4’s improved battery life and repairability.
Microsoft did not reveal the price of the two devices, only saying that they would be available to pros starting October 3, like the other devices presented that we will describe now.
Surface Laptop Go 3
Microsoft’s most accessible laptop, the Surface Laptop Go, finally has a successor. The new model is equipped with an Intel Core i5 processor with up to 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB.
June Wan/ZDNET
Other new features include the integration of iCloud Photos and Clipchamp into Windows 11, which allows users to sync images and videos from their iCloud-enabled devices to their Surface. In a demonstration, the Laptop Go 3 was able to download and edit vertical video in seconds (compared to several minutes for the previous generation).
When it comes to hardware and design, the Surface Laptop Go 3 looks just like the previous version, meaning you still get a sleek, portable, ultra-light (just over two pounds) form factor. ) with a 12.4-inch PixelSense touchscreen.
The laptop will be priced from 900 euros, 100 euros less than the previous model. It will be available in four different colors, namely Ice Blue, Sage, Sandstone and Platinum.
Surface Laptop Studio 2
Microsoft claims the new Surface Laptop Studio 2 is twice as fast as its predecessor, thanks to the latest Intel 13th Gen i7 H and Nvidia RTX 4050/4060 processors. Intel NPU on Windows is also present, bringing support for Windows studio effects, including the ability to produce a bokeh effect when users are on a video call.
June Wan/ZDNET
A 14.4-inch screen is at the center of the Laptop Studio 2, with omnidirectional speakers on the sides. The tilting screen design is similar to the previous model, which is timeless enough to stay current.
In terms of RAM and storage, the Laptop Studio 2 can be configured with up to 64 GB of RAM and up to 2 TB of storage.
The Laptop Studio 2 also features a new haptic touchpad that offers a “perfect click feel,” Microsoft touts. In fact, the company claims it’s the “most comprehensive touchpad on a laptop today.” When Adaptive Touch is enabled, the touchpad gains sensitivity, allowing users with disabilities to interact with the device.
Microsoft is also introducing adaptive pen tips, adding to the accessibility tools introduced last year for Surface laptops.
Pre-orders begin today for the Laptop Studio 2, priced starting at 2,240 euros.
What’s new in software and AI?
Copilot is becoming an essential component of Microsoft, particularly with Windows, Edge, and Teams. It will anticipate your needs and facilitate your workflow seamlessly, according to Microsoft.
Copilot will be available on Windows 11 devices, in Microsoft 365 services including Powerpoint, Excel and Teams, and on Microsoft Edge. Built on top of Bing Chat, Copilot shares similar AI-powered features, such as the ability to summarize and spot key information in texts, whether websites or text messages.
On September 26, Copilot will begin rolling out with a new version of Windows 11, “the most ambitious update to Windows 11 since its release,” according to Yusuf Mehdi, vice president of Microsoft.
This is Microsoft’s answer to Google’s Duet AI, another Gen AI assistant that works in Google Workplace.
AI integration in Windows 11
Windows 11 is therefore enriched with generative features thanks to the integration of Copilot.
June Wan/ZDNET
Thanks to the integration of AI in Windows 11 apps, on the web and even on your connected devices, Copilot on Windows 11 can now assist you with everything you do, from navigation to playing music.
Windows Ink Anywhere is another new feature in Windows 11 that will work with Copilot to help you solve math and other problems. For example, you can use your Surface Laptop’s pen to highlight a problem on the screen, and Copilot will help you fix it.
You can also use the pen in the cut tool to copy and paste the equation into Copilot and solve it.
Copilot on Windows can also get information from your smartphone so you can ask Copilot questions about what’s on the device, like text message summaries. In one example demonstration, the presenter asked Copilot about an upcoming airline flight.
Bing Chat Updates
According to Microsoft, more than a billion chats have been exchanged on Bing Chat since its creation, and new features are improving the experience.
Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET
Bing Chat benefits from two major updates:
- Personalized responses
- DALL-E 3 integration into Bing Image Creator.
With the Personalized Responses feature, Bing Chat will be able to refer to any content in your search history and use that information to contextualize its response. This feature is particularly useful because it helps avoid repetition and prompts can be less specific.
For example, if you’ve already told Bing Chat that you like reading romance novels, when you ask Bing Chat to suggest a book, it will automatically search for books in that genre.
Bing Image Creator also gets an update to the all-new DALL-E 3, which lets you describe an image and get even faster and more reliable generations. It’s also easier to edit images to achieve the desired result with a better understanding of the prompts.
This will help resolve issues such as the infamous distorted hands and blurry details often found in AI-generated images.
In a comparison demonstration between the original Bing Image Creator and the new version, the latter produced significantly better results. The new Bing Image Creator will also include content references, which will be labeled “AI-Generated” to help users distinguish between AI and reality.
Microsoft Shopping via AI
Bing Chat will also support a new shopping experience called “Microsoft Shopping,” which informs and educates users as they prepare to shop online and makes it easier to find the perfect product.
This is actually a personal advisor who asks you questions about what you are looking for to provide you with the best results and gives you purchasing advice. Once you’ve narrowed your product choices down to a handful, it can even generate a table with different specifications and price comparisons to help you make your decision.
Microsoft Shopping Experience will be a standalone site that can be accessed from any browser. It will also be integrated with Edge and Bing Chat. To get the best shopping advice, users should use the feature in Edge as they will be able to access additional shopping tools such as price trends and coupons, like popular browser extensions RetailMeNot and Honey.
Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Chat
Microsoft 365 Copilot, first revealed in March, will finally be available to businesses starting November 1.
June Wan/ZDNET
Office tools, such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, and Teams, are the cornerstone of many professionals’ workflows. With Microsoft 365 Copilot, they will benefit from the same generative AI upgrades mentioned above.
The tech giant is also introducing Microsoft 365 Chat, a chat assistant that has a contextual understanding of your business, role and organization to make work tasks and management easier.
For example, a user can ask Microsoft 365 Chat “What’s new in my inbox?” to start your day and get a concise but precise summary of your emails.
Users can also enlist the chat’s help with tasks like market research, where it can crawl the web, crunch numbers, and even generate a table with its results. Chat can help accomplish a multitude of other tasks, such as problem-solving, analytical thinking, and providing advice on demand.
Microsoft Designer will also be integrated with Microsoft 365 Copilot to help generate visuals across different platforms, including Word, where it will use document context to deliver visuals.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is currently in preview for a number of users and small businesses.