“There are moments. Moments that are about more than technology. They are the moments that shape our history. Great moments of innovation that can change everything.” That’s how Microsoft started off the Windows 10 Devices briefing on Tuesday. They had much to announce from s Microsoft Band 2 to their first ever Surface laptop. You can watch the whole Windows 10 Devices briefing here: http://www.microsoft.com/october2015event/en-us/live-event.
Terry Myerson had a lot of news at the Windows 10 Devices briefing. Apparently, there are 110 million computers running Windows 10 worldwide and 120 years of gameplay streamed to Windows 10 devices from the Xbox in the ten weeks since the launch of Windows 10 this summer. He also unveiled to the audience, many new limited edition Xbox consoles. These Xbox consoles are based on the new hit games coming out in Holiday 2015. Microsoft then announced Project X-Ray a mixed-reality game based off of the HoloLens. It demoed how the HoloLens can sense where your walls and furniture are to make the game truly personalized. Want a taste? Well, if you are developer you can get one in Quarter 1 of 2016 for $3,000.
Then came Panos Panay to announce the new Lumia flagship. The Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL are two new Windows Phone flagships that are pretty much the same except the Microsoft 950 XL has 5.7” screen with an octacore processor available in November at $649 while the Microsoft 950 has 5.2” screen with a hexacore processor available in November at $549. Both phones are liquid cooled and use an Adaptive Antenna Technology to switch between 2 antennas to always give you the best connection. There is also a newly-implemented Glance Screen Technology that allows you to see your latest notifications without touching a button or losing any battery life. The cameras on both these phones are stunning; they are 20MP with Triple LED RGB Natural Flash and 5th Gen Optical Image Stabilization as well as a dedicated camera button. The two phones, the 950 and 950 XL also accept SD cards and when the SD cards catch up you can load up to 2TB of storage on the devices! The Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL also charge using an USB Type-C charger which will get you at least 50% of charge in 30 minutes. But, you still have to login to access these amazing features. Microsoft is making that easier by using Windows Hello to use biometrics to log you in. According to Panos Panay, “[Microsoft] wants to put Windows in your pocket.” That’s where the Microsoft Display Dock comes into play. The Microsoft Display Dock connects to your phone through USB while still giving you the power of PC running Windows 10! Panos Panay also announced the Microsoft Lumia 550, a little scaled down version of the Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950 XL, available at $139 starting in December.
Want to find out more about the Microsoft Surface and other products? Check back on later this week for the rest of Microsoft’s Windows 10 Devices briefing information or watch the whole briefing at http://www.microsoft.com/october2015event/en-us/live-event.
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