Microsoft event October 2nd

MJohnston

https://twitter.com/panos_panay/status/1172196805208993797

Rumours are that this one might have some surprises, and will certainly have some big news as Satya Nadella will be in attendance (he wasn't there last year for their more routine hardware refresh event).

What's likely:
+ New Surface Pro (possibly with USB C)
+ New Surface Laptop (possibly an AMD powered model)
+ New Surface Book

What's possible:
+ New Surface earbuds (I have the Headphones and they're superb, so I'm interested in what these are like)
+ A mini-speaker device designed for usage with MS Teams
+ Foldable tablet, codenamed Centaurus - the leaks have been very vague with this one (MS are running a tight ship these days), but there's some info out there and we might finally see that Courier dream realised.
+ New Surface Go - I'm more hopeful about this than anything else, but I'd love to see a version of this device with an ARM processor, as Windows ARM is now a very capable OS.

Unlikely, but who knows:
+ Software stuff - I'm hoping to hear more about Windows Core OS (hopefully more adaptive UIs for different device types), and I'm quite excited by the notion of them doing more with Android via Launcher and other apps.

It's basically never going to happen at this event but - I'd kill for Microsoft to just build a Surface Phone with Android too at this point, but I think they'd want to spend a few more years working on Launcher to get to a point where they have more of a fully-fledged fork of Android for themselves.

CatInABox

So this has pretty much all leaked now.

See here.

ARM-based Surface tablet. Aimed at students, this device will carry a new brand that hasn’t leaked yet. It has two USB-C ports and a thin and light form factor. Update: It’s apparently called Surface Campus.

Surface Pro 7. The new Pro packs both USB-C and USB-A.

Surface Laptop 3. This will ship in a new 15-inch version (in addition to 13-inches) with a very attractive new look, no Alcantara, and one USB-C port. Supposedly AMD-based for some reason. Curious about dedicated graphics, but the 15-inch version looks thick enough to support it.

Peripherals. New mice aren’t that exciting, but a new Surface Pen with wireless charging dock very much is.

Sneak peek. As I had hoped, Microsoft will allegedly show off a new Windows version called Windows 10X aimed at new dual- and folding-screen devices along with a prototype of Centaurus, both due in late 2020. Maybe we’ll see third-party devices too, since Lenovo and Dell have already publicly discussed they are working on such things. I assume each of the biggest PC makers will follow Microsoft down this rabbit hole.

CatInABox

New laptop looks incredible. Ryzen 7 with Vega graphics, but probably the most important for me, it's repairable. Able to open and swap hard drives. Not many ultrabooks with that.

CatInABox

Surface Pro X looks like they've finally cracked what they wanted Surface RT to be. New Slim pen that has a resting/charging place built into the keyboard. Even has there own Microsoft SQ1 chipset, snapdragon based.

MJohnston

The pen stored in the keyboard is a great addition - the magnets on the Surface Book were super strong for the pen but it was never an ideal place to store it. Wonder if they could fit something similar into a Surface Book's snake hinge?

MJohnston

2 teraflops performance on the SPX, which is slightly more powerful than the original PS4 (by my own reckoning).

MJohnston

Teasing something for late next year, saying it's very early right now...the foldable I guess?

CatInABox

Surface NEO. Unusual to announce so far in advance. Looks great as well, I think they made the right choice making the hinge really small rather than trying to do folding glass, what with the Galaxy Fold debacle.

MJohnston

Surface Neo - dual screen PC running Windows 10X (a version designed specifically for foldable PCs). Few definite specs yet, as it won't be ready for another year (I'd imagine it's the software that's not ready yet). It's the Courier dream alive!

MJohnston

Surface Phone baybeeee!!

MJohnston

Is that ANDROID?

CatInABox

SNEAKY.

MJohnston

That was a reveal up there with the Surface Book screen detach.

CatInABox

MJohnston wrote: »

Is that ANDROID?

Windows Phone is dead man, let it go*.





*As much as I'd like it to still be around

Oafley Jones

Cool looking product - Surface Pro X. How worried do think intel are now? The know they're going to loose Apple within the short term and now MS are looking to get out as well.

How ****ty was that presentation though? Guy in dark suit, holding black product on underlit stage with black banners. I mean FFS. MS should be much better at these kind of things.

MJohnston

Oafley Jones wrote: »

Cool looking product - Surface Pro X. How worried do think intel are now? The know they're going to loose Apple within the short term and now MS are looking to get out as well.

How ****ty was that presentation though? Guy in dark suit, holding black product on underlit stage with black banners. I mean FFS. MS should be much better at these kind of things.

Eh, I think Panos is one of the best presenters in tech tbh.

MJohnston

CatInABox wrote: »

Windows Phone is dead man, let it go*.





*As much as I'd like it to still be around

Oh, I'm not clamouring for its return, I just can't tell whether it's running Windows 10X which is able to run Android apps, or whether it's running Android which has been reskinned to look like Windows 10X.

Oafley Jones

MJohnston wrote: »

Eh, I think Panos is one of the best presenters in tech tbh.

I agree, that's why it so infuriating to see how poorly that was staged.

AlmightyCushion

MJohnston wrote: »

Oh, I'm not clamouring for its return, I just can't tell whether it's running Windows 10X which is able to run Android apps, or whether it's running Android which has been reskinned to look like Windows 10X.

Going by this picture I'd say a skinned version of Android.

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5Vb1IkeOVG9z_lT518axk_L7EEg=/0x0:2000x1336/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1336):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19253054/slack_imgs.com.jpeg

MJohnston

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Looks like a skinned version of Android.

Apparently they worked closely with Google on it, which is interesting.

Royale with Cheese

I don't get it. Two tablets with fairly large bezels stuck together with a hinge? Same again with the phone?

MJohnston

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

I don't get it. Two tablets with fairly large bezels stuck together with a hinge? Same again with the phone?

I mean, people said "I don't get it" about the iPad when that was announced "so it's a bigger iPhone?"

CatInABox

Microsoft always has had trouble with naming their products, and this is continuing.

Surface Pro X doesn't run Windows 10 X

I mean, just pick a different name for one of them, please?

OU812

Why did that event look like it was being held in the local community theatre before "improv night"?

MJohnston

I reckon Panay wants a smaller venue for a closer connection with journalists. Apple does its Coldplay stadium tour thing, Google does...I have no idea what Google does as I’ve never watched their product announcements. No point trying to compete on that regard.

awec

OU812 wrote: »

Why did that event look like it was being held in the local community theatre before "improv night"?

Surface events are always like that.

Apple does the big event because it's whole year revolves around it. Surface is only a very small part of Microsoft's pie.