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Unlock business potential with new 5G and Copilot+ PCs from Surface

Nancie Gaskill, General Manager, Surface — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:00:04 +0000

We are thrilled to announce that the Surface Pro 10 with 5G and our new Copilot+ PCs, Surface Pro, 11th Edition and Surface Laptop, 7th Edition, will be available for business customers later this month. These new devices are meticulously designed to help your employees uncover new opportunities, solve problems faster and create compelling content with cutting-edge AI technology powered by the integrated Neural Processing Unit (NPU). At Microsoft, we understand that business customers are seeking more choices in silicon to meet their diverse needs. That’s why our lineup of Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices now features Intel Core Ultra and Snapdragon X Elite and Plus processors, providing the flexibility and choice our customers are looking for. We’ve been working closely with customers to evaluate and test these new devices, and the feedback has been incredible. Customers are seeing the value not only in fundamentals like performance and battery life but also in the new opportunities opened by 5G connectivity and AI experiences that can be unlocked with the Neural Processing Unit.

"We at T-Mobile are excited to enhance how our employees work with the new 5G-enabled Surface Pro devices.

Our journey with Surface Pro 9 5G has been nothing short of transformative, providing our team with seamless, highly secure, always-on access that has redefined productivity. This next-generation device is set to supercharge our workforce, unlocking new levels of efficiency and enabling our employees to achieve more, no matter where they are."

Marni Casanova, Sr. Director, Technology Customer Experience, T-Mobile

Surface Pro 10 with 5G for Business

Available starting Sept. 26 Now with optional 5G[i], Surface Pro 10 for Business is designed for teams that need a no-compromise device. Powered by Intel Ultra Core processors, the Surface Pro 10 with 5G offers tablet portability and versatility, fast performance, anti-reflective displays, two Thunderbolt 4 ports and all-day battery life, ensuring you never have to compromise on connectivity or efficiency. The Surface Pro Flex Keyboard enhances flexibility with a comfortable typing experience, backlit keys and a large haptic touchpad. It can be easily detached[ii] for a seamless transition between laptop and tablet modes, helping your employees work efficiently from anywhere. Imagine an executive working at the airport, seamlessly connecting to secure 5G instead of relying on insecure Wi-Fi networks, keeping their data protected while they prepare for an important presentation. Or picture an architect on-site, showing detailed plans of a new house to clients before Wi-Fi is even available, thanks to the reliable connection of the Surface Pro 10 with 5G. The addition of 5G opens a world of possibilities for productivity from anywhere. These devices keep mobile employees seamlessly connected, providing high-bandwidth, secure access to critical data and collaboration tools. 5G connectivity eliminates the need for juggling Wi-Fi passwords or tethering to a phone, enhancing productivity and flexibility. Organizations benefit from added security by avoiding untrustworthy public Wi-Fi networks, and since 5G devices can be always connected, the latest security updates can always be pushed to them. In the U.S., Microsoft’s strategic partnership with T-Mobile can make it even more cost effective for businesses to make the move to 5G. Qualifying business customers can now receive a subsidy credit of up to $400 on the Surface Pro with 5G devices through the T-Mobile Partner Plus program. Visit T-Mobile.com to learn more[iii].

"5G is delivering enhanced security, improved productivity, operational efficiencies and lower total cost of ownership. Our mission is to enable businesses to accelerate the realization of the many benefits of 5G. We are bringing together industry-leading partners like Microsoft to provide added value and make the advantages of 5G more accessible to all organizations.”

George Fischer, SVP of Sales, T-Mobile Business Group

New Surface Copilot+ PCs for Business

The Surface Laptop, 7th Edition and Surface Pro, 11th Edition—the latest additions to our portfolio for business customers—will be available starting Sept. 10. These new Copilot+ PCs, powered by Snapdragon X Plus and Elite processors and Windows 11 Pro, deliver more performance and AI acceleration than the MacBook Air M3[iv] while also providing all-day battery life. On top of that, these devices are even easier to repair, ensuring minimal downtime and maximum productivity for your employees. These devices are designed to enable your teams to simplify daily tasks, save precious time and facilitate easier collaboration with new AI experiences like Live Captions, powered by the Windows Copilot Runtime on powerful NPUs. Organizations and ISVs can take advantage of the over 40 on-device AI models included in Windows Copilot Runtime, from higher level APIs that can be accessed via simple settings toggle, all the way to bringing your own machine learning models. This marks the start of the innovation we’re bringing to Copilot+ PCs, with new features and experiences rolling out through future updates. Additionally, these new Copilot+ PCs enhance security by protecting your most sensitive data with the Microsoft Pluton security that is built directly in the Snapdragon X Plus and Elite processors. Microsoft Pluton security delivers next-generation security and is designed to be always up-to-date to help protect against current and emerging threats.

Surface Pro, 11th Edition

Wi-Fi only models available starting Sept. 10 5G models available starting Sept. 26 Surface Pro has long been celebrated for its versatility and portability, and now, it’s getting an AI-powered boost. The Surface Pro, 11th Edition is our most flexible Copilot+ PC, built with Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus processors that deliver up to 20% more AI processing power than the iPad Pro M4[v] and up to 14 hours of battery life[vi]. With this new AI processing power, teams can now enjoy incredible Copilot+ PC experiences like Windows Studio Effects, which help them present their best selves during video calls. No matter where they are, the ultra-wide front-facing camera and AI-enabled automatic framing ensure a crystal-clear view and keep everyone in frame. Additionally, enhanced voice focus uses the NPU to eliminate background noise, ensuring maximum clarity on video or audio calls by letting the Studio Mics focus solely on your voice. When paired with Surface Slim Pen[ii], Surface Pro offers unparalleled versatility. Surface Slim Pen allows for precise note-taking, sketching and annotation, making it an essential tool for teams who need to capture ideas on the fly. For added security, Surface Pro also features an integrated NFC reader that can be used with NFC security keys like the YubiKey 5C for secure passwordless authentication ensuring your data remains protected. Surface Pro is the perfect device for teams on the go, delivering lightning-fast performance, AI-accelerated power, optional 5G[i] and an optional OLED display in a thin, light and versatile package.

Surface Laptop, 7th Edition

Available starting Sept. 10 The Surface Laptop, 7th Edition has been entirely revamped to boost team productivity, featuring stunningly brighter displays with ultra-thin bezels, an increased number of ports, enhanced Wi-Fi 7 connectivity and up to 22 hours of battery life[vii]. Available in two sizes, the 13.8-inch display offers a larger viewing area than traditional 14-inch screens within a more compact frame, and the 15-inch version provides even more viewing space while still being easy to carry. The Surface Laptop's keyboard offers an exceptional typing experience, perfected for comfort, speed and sound with every keystroke. The new haptic touchpad delivers realistic feedback when tapped or clicked, allowing users to adjust pressure sensitivity and use intuitive touch gestures for easier navigation. Designed for inclusivity, this is the most accessible touchpad available, offering users greater control over their mouse pointers. The full HD Surface Studio Camera integrates perfectly with AI-powered Windows Studio Effects like Automatic Framing, Portrait Blur, Creative Filters and Eye Contact so your teams show up clearly and with confidence on all video calls with apps like Teams and Zoom. Premium Omnisonic Speakers coupled with AI-enhanced Studio Mics with Voice Focus amplify their voices and impact. Surface Laptop helps accelerate innovation, solves problems faster, enables seamless collaboration and drives business impact with new AI capabilities and Copilot+ PC experiences.

Surface Keyboard

Available starting Oct. 3 While we need to equip teams with devices that keep them productive on the go, we also know that information workers spend the majority of their working hours at a desk. 48% of Surface devices used by commercial customers are connected to additional monitors[viii], indicating setups where workers may prefer a larger keyboard than the one integrated with their Surface Pro or Surface Laptop. The all-new Surface Keyboard is the perfect companion for in-office setups. The full-size keyboard has been redesigned to include the Copilot key[ix], so those wanting an extended keyboard get one-touch access to the AI experiences delivered by the new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop devices. And the expanded keyset puts commonly used Windows 11 productivity actions, like Call Mute and Snip & Sketch, within the click of a button. Elevate any workspace with the Surface Keyboard, meticulously crafted to complement Surface PCs.

Pre-order today

These incredible new Surface PCs are available later this month. Visit Surface.com/Business to learn more, find a partner or pre-order directly from the Microsoft Store. When shopping at Microsoft.com, customers can take advantage of free shipping and an extended 60-day price protection and return window. We can't wait to see how these devices will transform your business and help you achieve more. [i] 5G not available in all areas; compatibility and performance depend on carrier network, plan and other factors. See carrier for details and pricing. [ii] Surface Pro Flex Keyboard and Surface Slim Pen sold separately. Detached use of Surface Pro Flex Keyboard requires Windows 11. [iii] Limited-time offer; subject to change. Tax on pre-credit price due at sale. Qualifying credit, business account, new line of service and 3-year agreement required. $25 SIM kit may be required. If you have cancelled lines in past 90 days, you may need to reactivate them first. Up to $400 laptop subsidy. May not be combinable with some offers or discounts. [iv] Performance testing based on Cinebench 2024 Multi-threaded conducted by Microsoft in April 2024 comparing pre-release build of Surface Laptop, 7th Edition 13.8-inch, Surface Laptop, 7th Edition 15-inch and Surface Pro 10, 11th Edition with Snapdragon X Elite running pre-release Windows 11 26100 and Apple MacBook Air 13.6-inch and 15-inch with M3 running macOS 14 Sonoma. AI acceleration tested May 2024 using Procyon AI Overall Score comparing Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X Elite 12 core and Snapdragon X Plus 10 core configurations to MacBook Air 15-inch (M3, 8 core CPU/10 core GPU configuration) and MacBook Pro (M3 Pro, 12 core CPU/18 core GPU configuration). [v] Based on the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) capabilities, measured in trillions of operations per second (TOPS), as per the published specifications for the Apple iPad Pro with M4 as of May 7, 2024. [vi] Up to 14 hours of battery life based on local video playback test on Surface Pro, 11th Edition. Testing conducted by Microsoft in April 2024 using preproduction software and preproduction Surface Pro Snapdragon X Plus C10 256GB and 512GB, 16GB RAM (LCD) devices and Surface Pro Snapdragon X Elite C12 1TB 32GB RAM (OLED) devices. Testing consisted of full battery discharge during video playback of a .mov file through the Windows Media Player application in 1080p at 24 FPS. All settings were default except screen brightness set to 150 nits with Auto-brightness disabled. Wi-Fi was connected to a network. Tested with Windows 11. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage and other factors. [vii] Up to 22 hours of battery life based on local video playback test on Surface Laptop 15-inch, 7th Edition. Testing conducted by Microsoft in April 2024 using preproduction software and preproduction Surface Pro Snapdragon X Elite C12 512GB, 16GB RAM devices. Testing consisted of full battery discharge during video playback of a .mov file through the Windows Media Player application in 1080p at 24 FPS. All settings were default except screen brightness set to 150 nits with Auto-brightness disabled. Wi-Fi was connected to a network. Tested with Windows 11. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage and other factors. [viii] Based on snapshot of aggregated, worldwide usage data as of June 2024 for select Surface Pro, Laptop and Laptop Studio for Business models. [ix] Copilot Key functionality varies by market. See aka.ms/keysupport.

6 things to know about the new Surface devices

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 15:00:06 +0000

Just in time for the holiday season, new Microsoft Surface devices are available to experience and shop. Whether you’re looking for yourself or someone you love, finding the right tech can feel overwhelming. To help make it easier, we asked our product experts at the Microsoft Experience Center in New York City for the top things to know about the new Windows 11 devices. We must start off by highlighting our two brand new Surface devices that are available today:

Surface Laptop Studio 2 is the ultimate multitasking powerhouse with the coolest form factor in town. Whether you’re a professional or a student, this laptop has your back and delivers high-performance for everything your everyday life throws your way, from work to studying to gaming.
That’s not the only game-changing device to join the lineup. Meet the lightweight yet powerful Surface Laptop Go 3. This compact device has the power and portability to be your trusted daily sidekick, as well as stunning color options to express your style.

Read on for our top six things to know about these new Surface devices, and don’t forget to check out the rest of the amazing portfolio in the Microsoft Store, where there are perfect devices, accessories and content for everyone. [caption id="attachment_263418" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Surface Laptop Studio 2 (Platinum), Surface Laptop Go 3 (Ice Blue), Surface Laptop 5 (Sage) and Surface Pro 9 (Sapphire)[/caption]

1 – Harnessing the potential of AI has never been easier

Time and time again, we hear from Microsoft Store customers that they are excited about AI but feel overwhelmed or intimidated about where to start. The great news is the new Surface devices are designed to bring Microsoft’s incredible AI experiences to life for you, making the everyday easier. Whether generating an image for a party invitation or creating a list for your holiday party, the preview of Copilot in Windows¹ is available today and ready to help you change the way you use your PC. We’ve updated our most loved inbox apps like Paint, Snipping Tool, Photos and more with AI capabilities, so you can really set your creativity free. There’s also Bing Chat, that together with Microsoft Edge is your copilot for the web. Bing Chat can help you answer complex questions and find the best deals for shopping. It’s like having your own digital detective – ask Bing Chat to help you find the perfect holiday gifts and give yourself time back to spend more time embracing festivities with friends and family. [caption id="attachment_263412" align="aligncenter" width="958"] Bing Chat in web page, “Backpacker’s Paradise!”[/caption]

2 – A device designed to keep up with you, from work to play

Imagine this – your day starts with handwritten notes on a tablet during a team meeting or class, which are converted to typed document. You swiftly transition to presenting your presentation in PowerPoint, set up for success with AI-powered Windows Studio Effects and crystal-clear audio. Then, finally, time for a break and gaming is calling your name. Here’s the best part, with Surface Laptop Studio 2, this all happens seamlessly on one powerful device. Whenever we show our customers how to flip the screen from laptop mode to studio mode to the perfect gaming setup in stage mode, it feels like magic! Some pro tips from our break room: Pair your Surface Laptop Studio 2 with the Surface Slim Pen 2 for scribbling notes. And, with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass membership, the Xbox app and a controller, you’re ready to game from anywhere. The Surface Laptop Studio 2 is the most powerful Surface device Microsoft has built, with versatility to match. With speed twice as fast as its predecessor and all-day battery life², it is the top gift for any multitasker who needs more horsepower. [caption id="attachment_263413" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Two women using Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Surface Slim Pen 2[/caption]

3 – Elevated portability for those who are unstoppable

Are you always on the move? Have you experienced the back-breaking burden of a heavy laptop while traveling? We've been there too and have the perfect solution. Surface Laptop Go 3 is the epitome of sleek and lightweight design, crafted from premium materials. It weighs under 2.5 pounds and easily slips into your bag, thanks to its slim profile. Whether sprinting from one meeting to another or exploring the far corners of the world, this device will not add an ounce of inconvenience to your journey. At $799.99, the Surface Laptop Go 3 is also the most budget-friendly laptop in the Surface lineup, making it easier to find your or a loved one’s perfect device without breaking the bank. Bookmark this device on your Edge browser if you’re shopping for someone always on the go! [caption id="attachment_263414" align="aligncenter" width="903"] Side view of Surface Laptop Go 3[/caption]

4 – Express yourself through bold colors

What we love most is having colorful conversations with our customers about how they like to express their personality. It's all about matching and mixing colors between our devices and accessories. The possibilities are endless, and choosing the right color to match your personality and style is just plain fun. We're all about personalization, and the Surface Laptop Go 3 totally gets us. Colors, my friend, colors do the trick! Sandstone is our jam – it's got that warm, neutral tone with a slick finish, and a favorite for so many customers. And if you want to keep it cool and refreshing, Ice Blue is a great choice or Sage and Platinum if you're feeling fancy! Surface Laptop Go 3 is as fun and unique as you are, and when paired with the right Arc Mouse color, you can feel it all the way through your fingertips! Whether shopping for a tech-savvy fashionista or someone looking to add a pop of color to their daily life, a Surface device will have your loved one jumping for joy. [caption id="attachment_263420" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Four Surface Laptop Go 3 devices in a row[/caption]

5 – Content to help you do more of what you love

The best thing about these devices is that they run on Windows 11, and the Microsoft Store on Windows is your one-stop shop for all the best content. With an ever-growing catalog of apps, games, movies and TV shows, Microsoft Store is ready for you – with content that’s tested for security, family safety and device compatibility. Check out some of the latest new content and offerings coming to Microsoft Store below:

Shocktober Sale: Save up to 50% off a variety of spooky titles! And Game Pass members can save even more on select content from Oct. 3 through Oct. 31.
Anime Collection: Check out our ever-popular Anime collection featuring popular titles like Naruto, My Hero Academia, Bleach, Cowboy Bebop, Chainsaw Man and more.
Movie & TV Catalog: Save the date! We’re adding Haunted Mansion and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 to our collection, releasing on Oct. 4 and Oct. 10, respectively.

[caption id="attachment_263416" align="aligncenter" width="629"] Man and woman gaming on Surface Laptop Studio 2[/caption]

6 – Find your perfect device and accessories with ease

To make all this news even sweeter – the options don’t stop there. At Microsoft Store, we have plenty more devices, capabilities and colors to choose from. Check out our go-to recommendations:

Surface Pro 9: Yet another wonderful option if you're looking for the flexibility of a tablet and the performance of a laptop, all in one ultra-portable device. In addition to our signature Platinum, it comes in unique colors: Sapphire and Forest for the nature-loving earth sign in your life as well as Graphite for those wanting a more neutral look.
Surface Laptop 5: Equipped with exceptional picture quality and cinematic sound, this laptop is perfect for students looking for a seamless transition from studying to streaming. And you guessed it – you can personalize with the colorway that best suits you: Platinum, Matte Black, Sandstone or Sage.
From a dock, to a type cover, mouse or Xbox controller, make the most of your Surface device and check out accessories today. Great gifts for stocking stuffers!

Book a free personal shopping appointment at Microsoft.com and one of our product experts will guide you through choices that fit your or your loved one’s needs, lifestyle and budget. We’re also available to help set up your device or console – and even your Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass membership – so it’s ready to go the minute the gift is unwrapped. We’re fun people to hang out with and understand the tech overwhelm firsthand, so the quick and easy appointment comes with zero pressure and all the helpful tips and laughs!

Shop smarter, not harder

With many options to consider when shopping for new tech, Microsoft Store is always here to help. The Microsoft Store Promise gives shoppers extra peace of mind with free 2-3-day shipping and returns, flexible payment options and a low-price promise – so you can ditch the “wait-and-rush" feeling that often seems inevitable when holiday deal hunting. You can also bet on Microsoft Store offering lots of great deals on devices and more throughout the holiday season. Be sure to keep an eye on our Deals page! Caption for top image: Surface Laptop Studio 2 (Platinum) and Surface Laptop Go 3 (Ice Blue) sitting on white tables ¹Copilot in Windows will start to release in preview to select global markets as part of our latest update to Windows 11. The initial markets for the Copilot in Windows preview include North America and parts of Asia and South America. It is our intention to add additional markets over time. ²Battery life varies significantly based on device configuration, usage, network and feature configuration, signal strength, settings and other factors. See aka.ms/SurfaceBatteryPerformance for details.

Microsoft’s commitment to accessibility: Creating products and services for people with disabilities

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 13:30:05 +0000

As a person who is part of the disability community, creating products for our community is my passion. I am committed to ensuring we have technology that enables us to achieve more at work, in school and in our daily lives. At Microsoft, we strive to close the disability divide by creating products that are accessible. As we enter Disability Awareness Month, we’re excited to share the products we have brought forward over the years – a variety of solutions to the many barriers to access the disability community faces across life and work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KSWDVKclxY We put people with disabilities at the center. We believe in the saying, “Nothing about us without us,” when it comes to designing accessible products. The Inclusive Tech Lab on Microsoft’s campus gives us space to learn from members of the disability community about the barriers they face, and design solutions together. This facility is for people with disabilities, not about people with disabilities. We guide designers and engineers to intentionally include people with disabilities in the products and services they create. We work with people with disabilities, organizations and therapists across numerous companies, school districts and rehab facilities to understand their needs and challenges. We bring together designers, engineers, interns and external partners through Inclusive Design Sprints, Microsoft Hackathons and Microsoft Garage to co-create innovative solutions. Hackathons generate a variety of ideas and prototypes to address the many barriers to access that people face in different contexts. The resulting products can then be showcased, tested and improved by the wider community, leading to more inclusive and impactful outcomes. We design with a “one size fits one” approach, creating products that are adaptable and can be customized by each individual user to fit their specific needs and preferences. We care deeply about design and how it impacts our users. We heard from our users with disabilities that they don't want to feel singled out by using assistive devices, and that many of the assistive devices on the market today appear too clinical. Within the Surface portfolio, design is a priority, and that shouldn’t be any different for our accessible accessories. That's why we created our accessible accessories with the same sleek, stylish and deliberate design choices as our other devices.

The evolution of accessible products at Microsoft

Xbox Adaptive Controller: The launch of the Xbox Adaptive Controller in 2018 made it possible for customers with limited mobility to enjoy gaming on Xbox¹ and Surface devices. The adaptive controller allows them to customize their controller setup with external switches, mounts and joysticks. A customer who has difficulty using their hands can use a foot pedal and a mouth-operated joystick to play their favorite games on their Surface Laptop Studio. Surface Adaptive Kit: In 2021, we launched the Surface Adaptive Kit to enable customers who are blind, have low vision or experience limited mobility to make their Surface devices and peripherals more accessible. Customers with low vision can use the tactile labels to identify the keys on their Surface Keyboard and the port indicators to locate the ports on their Surface device². Users with limited mobility can use the openers as support to open the lid and stand of their Surface Pro more easily, and the keycap labels to quickly find shortcut keys. Microsoft Adaptive Accessories: The Microsoft Adaptive Accessories were developed with people who have difficulty using a traditional mouse and keyboard and launched in the fall of 2022 as a way to increase their PC productivity. Customers with limited mobility can use the wireless adaptive hub and buttons to augment or replace a traditional keyboard to use their favorite apps more effectively. They can complete tasks such as sending emails, writing documents, gaming and editing more easily. Users can also customize their own adaptive mouse and buttons with 3D printing attachments available through Shapeways.^3,4 3D Printed Pen Grips for Microsoft Classroom and Business Pens: We released 3D Printed Grips for Microsoft Classroom Pen 2 and Microsoft Business Pen in 2022. The adaptive pen grips give students greater autonomy in the classroom, equipping them to write and take notes without relying on physical aid in class. Students with limited mobility or strength use a pen grip designed for their hand, reducing pain or discomfort. Professionals can use a pen grip that stabilizes involuntary hand movements, taking notes or signing documents with confidence.

New products coming this fall

We recently added two new products to our portfolio of accessible devices for Surface. 3D Printed Pen Grips for Surface Pen. Customizable 3D attachments are now available for Surface Pen. Now customers with limited mobility can be more creative and productive on their Surface devices⁵. We wanted to fix a mismatch and find a solution that enables people with disabilities to create, take notes and be productive in ways that the rest of the world takes for granted. Customers can choose from several shapes and sizes, with the option to add texture and select a unique tail cap. Every aspect of these designs was thoughtfully tuned through our partnerships with the disability community. We recognize that needs are always changing and we encourage others to invent and share their own pen designs with the community. We partnered with Shapeways^3,4 to make pen grips customizable, printable and shippable. The designs are also free to download on the Shapeways marketplace. Surface Laptop Studio 2 – Adaptive Touchpad. The precision haptic touchpad in Surface Laptop Studio 2, announced this September, is the most inclusive touchpad on any laptop. Thanks to adaptive touch mode, users with limited mobility can use the trackpad with different parts of their limbs, such as the palm, the foot, edges of the hand, or residual limbs. This means precise mouse control with imprecise contact. The adaptive touchpad uses software and haptic motors to create realistic feedback when you tap or click on it. The adaptive touchpad settings live in the Surface app and can be turned on with a simple toggle switch. Check out our video below to learn more about how to set up the adaptive touchpad on Surface Laptop Studio 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKtBCqZ6ZfE

Accessibility features in Windows

Hardware is a crucial component of the user’s setup that enables them to personalize and interact with their devices in ways that suit their preferences and needs. Surface hardware reflects accessibility enhancements to optimize the in-app and Windows OS accessibility experience with high-quality microphones for dictation, video cameras for eye-control, and intuitive multi-touch screens that make UI interactions more tactile and natural. We have consistently introduced accessibility features in Windows to help build a more accessible Surface and Windows ecosystem. Some of the accessible tools and features in Windows are: Seeing AI is an app that narrates the world for users who are blind or have low vision. Learning tools are designed to enhance focus, comprehension and learning for all users. These tools span from immersive reading and writing assistants in Word, OneNote and Outlook to inclusive math and communication features, all tailored to support diverse learning needs across various applications. A familiar set of assistive technologies built into Windows 11, like Narrator, Magnifier, Live Captions and Voice access to support users across the disability spectrum. Additionally, Windows 11 provides accessibility settings such as: New contrast themes designed to provide maximum differentiation between text, backgrounds and color combinations on the screen for people with low vision and light sensitivity. Voice Typing, to help everyone author text with their voice, uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence to recognize speech, transcribe and automatically punctuate text. For those on Windows 10, we are also offering this experience: Eye Control, which allows Windows 10 customers to use their eyes to control an on-screen mouse, keyboard and text-to-speech experience. Ease of Access, which makes Windows 10 easier to see with the addition of text size customization, which works with Magnifier. Narrator, used to improve navigation and overall efficiency. Accessibility features within Microsoft Edge, such as: Automatic Image Description, which provides auto-generated alt text for images that do not include it. Immersive Reader and Read Aloud, which help improve focus for individuals by having articles and other content read to them. Editor in Microsoft Edge, which provides text prediction and proofing tools to help our customers write more confidently on the web. Finally, Accessibility Insights, a free downloadable extension for Windows, Android and web browsers that helps developers find and fix accessibility issues.

Conclusion

At Microsoft, we are passionate about creating products and services that are accessible for people with disabilities. To enable transformative change, we’re working to weave accessibility into the fabric of what we design and build for every team, organization, classroom and home. When we design with disability in mind, our products become better for everyone. Disclaimers:

Xbox Adaptive Controller is compatible with Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One X, Xbox One S, Xbox One, Windows 10/11, Android, iOS.
Keycap labels of the Surface Adaptive Kit can fit on the keys on the Surface Go Type Cover and Surface Laptop Go but will require a more precise application due to the key size.
3D print services provided and warrantied exclusively by Shapeways, Inc. subject to Shapeways Sales Terms and Conditions and Warranty at: https://aka.ms/ShapewaysTermsConditions. Microsoft is not responsible for their performance or compliance with applicable regulatory, compliance, safety or any other requirements.
Available 3D designs from Shapeways may vary from image shown and over time. See Get Started with 3D Printing for the latest offerings.
Compatibility details can be found at Surface Pen Compatibility. Pairing functionality requires Windows 10 or 11 with the latest updates.
Some software, accessories and devices sold separately.

New Surface devices bring more value to business

Nancie Gaskill, General Manager, Surface — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 15:00:07 +0000

Today we announced incredible AI experiences from across Microsoft and four new Surface devices. These products have been redesigned to reflect our longstanding commitment to integrating the voice of commercial customers. Our new Surface devices have been built for the needs and wants of end-users to be more productive, creative and collaborative while supporting the needs of IT professionals to deploy, manage and support these devices at scale through the lifecycle. With these new products, we not only bring new innovation and technology but are delivering on some of the most requested commercial features with more performance, improved security, manageability and repairability. Each product brings unique value and features to meet the many needs of businesses, across industries and functions. Whether you are optimizing for frontline workers needing mobility and versatility, or developers and creators with graphic intensive needs, we have developed these products to ensure we deliver the value you need across your workforce.

Meet Surface Laptop Studio 2 for Business: Versatility to create, power to perform

Surface Laptop Studio 2 is the most powerful and versatile Surface Laptop. It combines enterprise-grade performance for complex workloads with a revolutionary design that unlocks the ability to seamlessly switch from a touchscreen laptop to a perfectly angled display to a portable canvas. Surface Laptop Studio 2 is the perfect tool for engineers working on mechanical designs, designers editing their latest picture with Surface Slim Pen 2[1] or developers building an app; Surface Laptop Studio 2 empowers your teams to tackle any challenge. Surface Laptop Studio 2 delivers over twice the power of the original Surface Laptop Studio with the latest 13th Gen Intel Core processors built on the Intel Evo platform and NVIDIA GPU options to accelerate professional and creative workflows. Your teams will be able to design, engineer or render your next product with the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation GPU or create and edit content faster with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 and 4060 Laptop GPUs[2]. We also heard from our customers not only about the need for more performance but more ports, so we redesigned the chassis of this device to add both a USB-A port and microSD card slot to help keep your employees productive with all their accessories without needing extra dongles. With the shift to more hybrid workplaces, we know our business customers spend a lot of time on video calls on apps like Microsoft Teams. With Surface Laptop Studio 2 your teams will always look and sound their best in meetings or calls with customers. With the AI-enhanced field of view full HD Studio Camera, face-to-face video calls feel more natural with Eye Contact correction and Automatic Framing to always keep users in the center of the frame.

Meet Surface Laptop Go 3 for Business: Ultra-thin design, impactful performance

The lightweight Surface Laptop Go 3 empowers your team to get it all done and keep it all secure. Users can multitask on the go or collaborate from any desk, breeze through essential tasks anywhere and collaborate to deliver impactful results. Surface Laptop Go 3 is a Secured-core PC that delivers business-critical performance for everyday tasks with value-added premium features that your team will love: excellent typing on a full-size keyboard, Omnisonic Speakers with Dolby Audio, dual Studio Mics, a touchscreen display, all packed into our most portable Surface Laptop. The Intel Core processor runs everyday Microsoft 365 apps with faster performance with options up to 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage. Surface Laptop Go 3 delivers an 88% performance boost compared with the original Surface Laptop Go. Power through your day wherever you work with up to 15 hours of battery life[3] and Fast Charging. When paired with Windows 365 Cloud PC[4], your teams will benefit from a premium hardware experience, all while securely streaming their own Windows experience – including their own personalized apps, content and settings from the Microsoft Cloud. With Windows 365 Switch, they can quickly move between their local PC and their Cloud PC experience with a simple swipe on their touchscreen or touchpad.[5] Surface Laptop Go 3 is designed for teams to make an impact and deliver results while on the go or in the office. Tested for durability and reliability, Surface Laptop Go 3 comes in a sleek, premium design with a durable, cool metal finish engineered to withstand daily use and with more components that are replaceable.

Meet Surface Go 4 for Business: Security, flexibility and durability for your frontline

With Surface Go 4, we’ve redesigned this device to meet the needs of our customers. Customers, like healthcare workers and retail pros, need the versatility of Surface Go to solve mission-critical challenges for their frontline. They choose Surface Go because they need Windows productivity and they trust Microsoft security. As a Secured-core PC, Surface Go 4 delivers the highest level of Windows 11 protection in a flexible design. It delivers up to 4.5 times more performance than the original Surface Go, with a longer 12.5-hour battery life[3], all in an ultra-portable 2-in-1 design that can be used easily with touch, pen[1] or keyboard[1]. Surface Go is the perfect device for Microsoft frontline worker experiences and can be used to create a powerful integrated solution to help your teams be more productive in the back office or helping your customers. Surface Go 4 is one of the few Windows 11 PCs that qualifies for Microsoft 365 for frontline, it can be a powerful gateway to a Windows 365 Cloud PC[5], and with integrated NFC can be accessed securely and easily with a compatible NFC security key, like a YubiKey[1]. Complete your solution with customized cases and other accessories from our Designed for Surface partners, to meet the specific needs of different industries and environments.

Meet Surface Hub 3: The premium meeting experience for hybrid teams

As our customers adapt to modern work, they need hardware that’s as versatile as the work environments in which they operate, and AI-equipped software tailored to team collaboration. Surface Hub 3 is designed end-to-end by Microsoft, with iconic hardware – a thin edge and bezel, dual-pen active inking, 20-point multi-touch with built-in palm rejection – and the familiar and intuitive Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience. AI-enhanced collaboration tools – like Cloud IntelliFrame and Copilot in Whiteboard – shine on Surface Hub 3. The 50" device brings entirely new ways to co-create with Portrait, Smart Rotation and Smart AV – making 1:1 meetings personable and Whiteboarding sessions more natural. The 85" stunningly displays remote teammates and content, even in large rooms. Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows showcases the content and people critical for your meeting. With Front Row on Surface Hub 3, an AI-unified video gallery, chat, raised hands and content come together in a single optimized and customizable view. Now compatible with Microsoft Teams Rooms certified peripherals, Surface Hub 3 optimizes any space. Manageability is critical for our Surface Hub customers. Running the Microsoft Teams Rooms experience, Surface Hub 3 can be managed on the same platform as traditional Teams Rooms. The underlying Windows operating system keeps your organization’s data safe. Surface Hub 3 delivers enterprise-grade modern security, enabling IT admins to enforce data protection with BitLocker and Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM) plus cloud-powered security with Microsoft Defender. Centrally manage settings and policies in Microsoft Endpoint Manager, and track room health status with active monitoring through Microsoft Teams Admin Center and the Pro Management Portal. To upgrade in-market Surface Hub 2S devices, replace the existing cartridge with the Surface Hub 3 Pack – the modular Surface Hub design makes it possible to get the latest hardware without purchasing an entirely new device. Software migration to the Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows experience will also be available for Surface Hub 2S devices in 2024. Learn more about the new Surface Hub 3.

Platform level improvements

Each product brings unique value and experience to customers, but across all business environments security, manageability, repairability and support are critical to bring peace of mind to IT professionals. Surface with Microsoft is committed to bringing best-in-class solutions across each of these areas.

Chip-to-cloud security

Protected by Microsoft, Surface devices combined with Microsoft 365 have multiple layers of security built-in. With industry-leading security features and remote device management that extends from firmware to cloud – find peace of mind and do more with less. We build secure products from the ground up, and Microsoft manages and controls the entire ecosystem, ensuring everything works together to keep data safe and secure, all while giving customers full autonomy over their data and devices. When you choose Surface, you invest in a product where every component, down to each bit of code, undergoes meticulous verification. Proactively block threats with security that's always up-to-date, down to the boot and firmware level. Quickly respond to global threats and get automatic updates at scale with Microsoft 365 Defender. An example of this has resulted in a new security innovation in Surface Laptop Studio 2 to support customers operating in highly secure work environments to prevent USB theft of confidential data and provide more control to organizations. When paired with the Surface Thunderbolt 4 Dock[1], IT admins can use certificate-based security to lock down USB-C or USB-A ports whenever Surface Laptop Studio 2 is undocked or connected to an unauthorized dock. This means that when your users are connected to an authorized dock in the office, they'll have access to the full functionality of their devices. However, when they go off-site, they can still connect to a dock to use accessories or a monitor but cannot use the USB ports to transfer data. To learn more, see Surface documentation. Expect to see this experience rolled out to more devices in the future.

Management and deployment

https://youtu.be/Po77DqCMvLc The full value of buying a Surface is recognized when you fully leverage Microsoft 365[6]. This means deploying with Autopilot, managing with Intune and Securing with the Microsoft Defender suite. Autopilot enables streamlined and secure deployment without having to go through multiple device interception points. Whether you're deploying devices to your central HQ, remote branch offices or dedicated remote workers, the advantages of embracing Autopilot and Modern Management become evident in the face of software or OS challenges. Imagine the ability to troubleshoot, reprovision, fix or even reimage a device remotely without the need for hands-on intervention from a technician or the logistical challenges of sending the device back. These capabilities help ensure that your end-users remain productive and that business continuity is preserved. We're excited to bring more value to Intune with the Surface Management Portal (SMP), providing a central location to evaluate and manage your fleet of Surface devices. When a hardware issue arises, you can create a ticket from within the portal, describe how you want to repair the machine, and return your IT Admin and end user to productivity faster. Over the past year, our customers have consistently called out the SMP as contributing to their decision to invest in Surface. By delivering a single pane of glass for your device management needs, the SMP continues to help customers lower their total cost of ownership, and we're continuing to roll out more customer-requested features in the months ahead, to bring even more value to IT pros.

Delivering value over time

Our work doesn't stop once we launch a device. We continuously work to deliver updates that make it easier for organizations to secure, manage and deploy devices.

Surface Pro 9 with 5G and Windows on Arm devices

While today’s refresh was focused on four new products, we continue to invest in all of our products including those built on the Arm platform, like Surface Pro 9 with 5G. Recently, we announced updates that help business customers deploy eSIM cellular profiles at scale through Intune, and we've also shared that customers using Arm devices can have even more control over their sensitive data through Endpoint Data Loss Prevention (Endpoint DLP). In Spring 2024, we will also create the ability for customers to build and reimage their Arm devices using Configuration Manager OS Deployment and for the first time we'll release much-requested MSI Driver Packages. Although we recommend Windows Autopilot as the ideal way to manage Arm devices, we are committed to meeting customer needs and know it may not be suitable for environments with a mix of device types, architectures, operating systems or connectivity challenges.

Six-year commitment to software and firmware support

We strive to provide long-lasting value to our Surface customers through capabilities across hardware and software. Today, we are excited to take this even one step further and announce we’ll be extending driver and firmware support to six years after general availability[7], delivering consistency for IT admins across device lifecycle management. Across the Surface portfolio from Surface Go to Surface Hub, Surface is more than a device – it is a strategic enabler for businesses, a tool to help people work, collaborate, learn. We believe we are uniquely positioned to build holistic solutions that bring together hardware, software and AI-enabled experiences to address the challenges our customers face today and in the future. Please visit our Surface IT Pro Blog or Surface.com/Business to learn more and to find an authorized reseller. [1] Sold separately [2] Available as an option on certain SKUs of Surface Laptop Studio 2. [3] Battery life varies significantly based on device configuration, usage, network and feature configuration, signal strength, settings and other factors. See aka.ms/SurfaceBatteryPerformance for details. [4] Subscription required. Sold separately. [5] Windows 365 Switch requires Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise device, a Windows 365 Cloud PC. See more details at What is Windows 365 Switch? | Microsoft Learn [6] Sold separately. Software license required for some features. [7] The extended driver and firmware support applies to devices that were made generally available in 2021 and later. See Surface driver and firmware lifecycle for Windows-based devices - Surface | Microsoft Learn for more details.

Announcing the availability of consumer replacement components for Surface devices

Tim McGuiggan – VP Devices Services & Product Engineering — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 16:00:27 +0000

We are happy to announce that replacement components for Surface devices are now available in the Microsoft Store. As a team, we are committed to delivering what customers want and need in a premium device including versatility, performance, cutting-edge design, build quality and repairability. Our approach to repairability has been to expand the options for customers to have their devices repaired in a safe, sustainable manner. While we have always offered world-class warranty and repair services via Microsoft support, we have been working to increase repair options by designing products that are easier to repair and by expanding our network of Authorized Service Providers. As part of this larger initiative, we are excited to offer replacement components to technically inclined consumers for out-of-warranty, self repair. Find more information on troubleshooting and self repair for your Surface device, along with a list of available replacement components by device, links to service guides and to relevant tools from iFixit. When purchasing a replacement component, you will receive the part and relevant collateral components (such as screws if applicable). Tools needed for the repair are sold separately through iFixit. It is essential to follow the instructions in the applicable Microsoft Service Guide or article. Replacement components will be initially available for purchase through the Microsoft Store in the United States, Canada and France, while commercial resellers in all Surface markets will have access through existing channels. We will have updates on additional markets in the future.

Replacement components by device:

Surface Pro 7

Kickstand

Surface Pro X

Kickstand
Removable solid-state drive (rSSD)
SSD Door

Surface Pro 8

Kickstand
Display
Removable solid-state drive (rSSD)
SSD Door

Surface Pro 9

Kickstand
Display
Removable solid-state drive (rSSD)
Battery
Surface connect charging port
Back cover
Speakers
Thermal module
Camera front and rear
Camera and Wi-Fi deck
Power and volume button
SSD door

Surface Pro 9 5G

Kickstand
Display
Removable solid-state drive (rSSD)
Battery
Surface connect charging port
Back cover
Speaker
Thermal module
Camera front and rear
Camera deck
Power and volume button
SSD door

Surface Laptop 3

Display
Keyboard
Removable solid-state drive (rSSD)
Rubber feet

Surface Laptop 4

Display
Keyboard
Removable solid-state drive (rSSD)
Rubber feet

Surface Laptop 5

Display
Keyboard
Removable solid-state drive (rSSD)
Battery with enclosure
Rubber feet
Surface connect charging port
Speakers
Thermal module

Surface Laptop Go 2

Display
Keyboard
Keyboard with fingerprint reader
Removable solid-state drive (rSSD)
Battery
Rubber feet
Surface connect charging port

Surface Laptop Studio

Display
Keyboard
Removable solid-state drive (rSSD)
Battery with enclosure
Surface connect charging port
USB-C and audio jacks
Cosmetic plate
Rubber feet

Surface Studio 2+

Display
Removable solid-state drive (rSSD)
Thermal module
Internal power supply unit
Rubber feet

Photo caption: Replacing the kickstand on Surface Pro 9 Editor’s note – June 15, 2023 – The list of replacement parts was updated for accuracy.

Empowering collaboration in the hybrid workplace with Surface Hub 2S and Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera

Steven Bathiche, Corporate Vice President, Windows and Devices — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 13:03:42 +0000

As hybrid work continues to evolve, it is imperative that organizations bring people together wherever they are – both inside the office and out – to communicate, collaborate and co-create. For years, Microsoft has invested in hardware and software solutions to meet emerging customer needs. Years ago, we envisioned a concept we referred to as the “magic window,” a suite of technologies and techniques, which, at its simplest form, was about connecting people and removing barriers of geography and communication style. With Surface Hub 2S, our customers experience this vision – collaborating using Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Whiteboard, Windows and more. Today we are proud to announce updates to Surface Hub 2S that make this experience even better. We’re also excited to introduce the new Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera. Work together anywhere Whether through Teams, Whiteboard or first-rate inking with Surface Hub 2 Pen, Surface Hub 2S provides a variety of features and capabilities to address these needs. With the new Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera, the meeting experience becomes even more immersive for people both in the room and participating remotely. With its automatic framing technology, portable design and high-quality video the Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera helps to ensure participants are seen and heard – whether they are at the back of a large room or interacting with the Surface Hub at the edge of the screen. More inclusive connections If you’ve noticed the clarity of Surface Laptop and Surface Pro’s microphones, the smoothness of digital inking or the capabilities of Surface’s front-facing cameras, then you understand the pride we take in our work. As the conference room whiteboard was once the gathering place for creative teams, Surface Hub – with touch, digital inking and companion software experiences – raises that bar for hybrid and remote teams. As the trend toward hybrid work accelerates, we have set our sights on improving the experience, pushing further in ways that limit tradeoffs for remote participants and promote equity of experience. Think about the traditional hybrid meeting experience where a single camera fails to clearly capture who is speaking and what else might be happening in the room. This was an opportunity for further innovation across signal processing, artificial intelligence (AI) and optics to build a camera capable of improving the experience and extending the benefits of Surface Hub to those not physically in the room. Allow me to introduce the Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera. https://youtu.be/sgv_TeT8RB8 Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera is more than a professional grade camera. It is the first AI-powered camera from Microsoft. Surface Hub 2 Camera reframes, adjusts lighting and enables incredibly wide angles of view, all without any warping, distortions or depth-of-field issues that might otherwise limit what is visible. The team put tremendous work into tuning the experience to capture and frame what is occurring in the room while being smooth and natural for remote viewers or participants. Whether someone leaves the room, enters or walks up to interact with the display, everyone in the room is in view and in focus. This is possible through a combination of technologies working together:

A 12-megapixel sensor, with a stellar 136-degree field of view lens that can keep things near (.4m) and far (8m) simultaneously in crisp focus across a wide variety conference room sizes and configurations
1 Teraflop of compute power (a trillion floating point calculations per second)
A new algorithm we developed to automatically compensate for tilt, distortions and wide-angle corrections so object appear as they would in real life
AI that can detect people across a variety of postures, lighting conditions and rooms, ensuring every participant is equally visible

All of this is housed in a beautifully machined aluminum body, connected with a USB-C mount and attached with a simple magnetic click. Learn more about managing and installing the Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera on our documentation page.Meeting and collaboration for hybrid teamsCollaborate better together Across the Surface portfolio, we pride ourselves on delivering the best of Microsoft. Surface Hub 2S is no exception. As hybrid meetings overtook more traditional meeting settings, we saw solutions like Surface Hub play a unique and powerful role. People needed the ability to co-create in an ad hoc fashion and build on the work of peers spread across a variety of locations and environments. Through the powerful combination of software that comes to life on Surface Hub, organizations could navigate such challenges. We’ve been working to bring the latest Microsoft experiences built for hybrid work across Teams, Microsoft 365, Windows and Whiteboard to Surface Hub 2S, Surface Laptop and Surface Pro. Let’s look at a few software innovations that make hybrid work more agile.

We have made it even easier for all participants to co-create in a Whiteboard session that includes a Surface Hub. The UI that previously was optimized for Whiteboard screen-sharing has been updated to share a Whiteboard session from within a Teams meeting where each participant has automatic access to edit.
Outlook will now allow you to RSVP to meetings and note whether you plan to appear in-person at the meeting or virtually.
Enhancements to the companion device experience will make it easier and less distracting to join a hybrid meeting from within a conference room.
Whiteboard now offers a rich set of capabilities that bring visual collaboration to life in Teams, including collaboration cursors, more than 50 new templates, contextual reactions and the ability to open existing boards and collaborate with external colleagues in Teams Meetings.
Coming soon to PowerPoint, you no longer need to appear in person to deliver your message effectively. With recording studio and cameo in PowerPoint, you can create your own presentation, decide how and where you appear on your slides with cameo, record it and have the presentation delivered with, or without you, via PowerPoint Live in Teams.
Fluent emojis in Teams allow you to bring your personality to the conversation. With new and vibrant styling, 3D Fluent emojis will infuse expression and playfulness into every message. Select a category to easily find the emoji you want and use the skin tone selector to pick an emoji that better represents you.

https://youtu.be/SNmrxh-ACwQ Learn more about these and other innovations on the M365 blog. Hybrid work is here, but so are tools like Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Whiteboard and more that come to life on Surface. Through this intentional mix of innovative hardware and software, hybrid work does not have to be a disruption. The Surface team has been on a mission to bring people together – whether they are in the same room, or worlds apart. We designed Surface Hub to be upgradable, modular, and flexible to change with the times and technology. These updates to both hardware and software demonstrate the ongoing benefits available to our Surface Hub 2S customers, and we hope they help to draw teams a little bit closer. Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera is available March 16 in all markets where Surface Hub is sold for MSRP $799.99. Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera will be sold with Surface Hub 2s 85” beginning May 31 for MSRP $21,999.99. Check out the Microsoft Surface for Business page to learn more, or contact an authorized Microsoft Surface reseller through the Where to Buy page. For information on Teams certified accessories from Microsoft, check out the accessories page.

Introducing Surface Go 2, Surface Book 3, Surface Headphones 2 and Surface Earbuds

Panos Panay — Wed, 06 May 2020 13:01:30 +0000

Available for preorder today, new Surface devices and accessories are designed to help you work, learn, connect and play from anywhere

The way we work, connect and learn continues to change right in front of us. Our devices have become our window to the world – our office, our school and our social space. To help navigate the current environment people are turning to Windows PCs more than ever. In fact, over 4 trillion minutes are being spent on Windows 10 a month, a 75% increase year on year. It’s not just the pull of the larger screen and better keyboard, but the versatility of a device that runs the software we need and games and entertainment we love, with cameras and mics built in to connect us to the people who matter most. This is what Windows PCs were built to do. This is what we design Surface for. The new Surface Go 2, Surface Book 3, Surface Headphones 2, Surface Earbuds and accessories are designed to help you do what you need, from anywhere – a concept that has taken on new weight since we first started working on these products. Instead of planes, coffee shops and offices, we’re moving from home office to kitchen table to couch, but our need for devices that keep us productive and connected has never been greater. As a company, we are focused on supporting our customers during this time of change. From making Microsoft Teams available to everyone to evolving Microsoft 365, we want to make sure every person and every organization has the tools they need to stay connected and productive. Nothing inspires me more than seeing the amazing things our customers and employees are doing with our products. I’ve connected with educators like Dr. David Kellermann at the UNSW in Sydney and parents like Elisa who are using Surface to keep students engaged and learning from home. I’ve felt the energy from our own team as they navigated how to build and bring products to market remotely. I am deeply appreciative of work they are doing for our customers. We are so excited to get these new Surface devices in people’s hands, meeting them where they are today and supporting them with the tools they need to keep working, keep creating and keep learning. - Panos As we continue to expand our Surface family of devices, our goal is to design a Surface for every person, every work style and every location, scaling from the most portable to the most performant. To give you devices that can switch context as quickly as you do to take you from work to play to everything in between. Today we are announcing four new products and new accessories with that in mind.

Surface Go 2 delivers incredible value in a light, portable design, providing a great device for anyone in your company or family.
Surface Book 3 is our most powerful laptop ever. Designed for professionals who need desktop-level performance from anywhere, this is the powerhouse workstation.
The Surface Headphones 2 and Surface Earbuds complete your Surface experience, helping you find focus wherever you are and stay connected to the people and content that matters.
The Surface Dock 2 and the multi-port Microsoft USB-C Travel Hub help you set up the ultimate workspace wherever that may be.

Surface Go 2 https://www.youtube.com/embed/NUw8jZl1hX0 We created Surface Go to offer a more affordable and portable 2:1 to the Surface line. Organizations like Law School Admissions Council, Renault/F1 and National Healthcare Services in the U.K., and schools like Blue Springs School District in Missouri and Aichi Prefecture in Japan, have chosen Surface Go for its compact design, the versatility of the touch screen, keyboard, Pen and added connectivity of LTE Advanced. Surface Go 2 keeps the same thin, lightweight design, but now offers a larger 10.5-inch PixelSense display, improved battery life and a model with up to 64% faster performance than the original with 8^th Generation Intel® Core™ M options for the first time. We’ve added Studio Mics, our dual microphone solution, to increase voice clarity and reduce background noise for Teams meetings or video chats, and a 5MP front-facing camera delivers sharp video even in low light. We’ve also added the new Camera app for the rear-facing camera to make it easy to scan documents and whiteboards – whether you’re sharing notes from a meeting or turning in homework. Paired with Surface Pen, Surface Go 2 allows distance learners and remote workers to stay digital, while unlocking the power of natural ink for things like drawing diagrams, marking up documents or working through math equations. You can personalize your Surface Go with Type Covers, Sleeves and accessories in a variety of colors, including Platinum, Black, Poppy Red, and Ice Blue. Surface Go 2 starts at $399 and will be available starting May 12. Surface Book 3 https://www.youtube.com/embed/kYFnAnmwG5c When we first designed Surface Book, our goal was to give people the power of a desktop, the versatility of a tablet, and the freedom of a light and thin laptop in one beautifully designed device. Developers, designers and professionals rely on Surface Book for coding and compiling, workloads in Adobe and Autodesk, and for gaming with Xbox Game Pass for PC or on Steam. Surface Book 3 is our most powerful laptop ever, providing up to 50% more performance than Surface Book 2 and up to 17.5 hours of battery life. Whether you choose 13-inch or 15-inch, Surface Book 3 has beautifully crisp, high-DPI PixelSense Display, smooth, precise trackpad, comfortable keyboard and the performance of 10^th Generation Intel® Core™ processors and choice of discrete NVIDIA® GeForce GTX™ or Quadro RTX™ GPUs. For developers that push the computing and IO performance of their device, Surface Book 3 now comes with up to 32GB of RAM and the fastest SSD we have ever shipped. For people who love to game, Surface Book 3 15-inch has an NVIDIA GeForce GTX™ GPU with enough power to play the top Xbox Game Pass for PC titles at 1080p in a smooth 60 frames per second. We’ve also added a new option with the NVIDIA Quadro RTX™ 3000 to better meet the needs of commercial customers and higher education institutions. Surface Book 3 starts at $1599 and will be available starting May 21. Surface Headphones 2 People tell us that putting on headphones is today’s equivalent of shutting the office door to focus and connect in any setting. Surface Headphones 2 are designed to slip comfortably over your ears and surround you with spectacular sound quality, including 13 levels of ambient noise control. We improved sound quality and battery life, bringing you up to 20 hours of clear sound. Our active noise cancellation is adjustable through intuitive on-ear dials and specifically tuned to either block out or amplify human voices. This comes in handy when you are trying to work from home with roommates, kids, significant others or pets. We updated the ear cup design to rotate 180 degrees for greater comfort when wearing around your neck, and added a beautiful Black finish option in addition to our classic Platinum. Surface Headphones 2 are priced at $249 and will be available starting May 12. Surface Earbuds We know there are times when you want to be connected without fully shutting out the world – such as listening to music while out for a run or taking a call while making dinner. Featuring an ultra-comfortable and stable fit, Surface Earbuds offer intuitive touch controls so you can start a phone call or change the song without taking out your phone. Experience rich, immersive Omnisonic sound and instantly play Spotify from your Android phone with a triple tap on either earbud. Screen-free integration with Microsoft 365 lets you catch up on emails with Play My Emails in the Outlook Mobile App for iOS or allow you to dictate in Word, Outlook or PowerPoint. Enjoy all-day battery life with the included wireless charging case. Surface Earbuds are priced at $199 and will be available starting May 12. Surface Dock 2 The ability to connect to monitors, accessories and additional storage can help you set up the ultimate workspace. Surface Dock 2 helps you expand your workspace with a simple magnetic click and delivers faster charging, higher data transfer rates and the enterprise management tools people have been asking for. We’re also announcing a new multi-port Microsoft USB-C Travel Hub to give you more ways to connect to networks, displays and USB-C™ accessories when you’re on the go. Surface Dock 2 is priced at $259.99 and the Microsoft USB-C Travel Hub is priced at $99.99. Both will start shipping to customers later this month in select markets. Microsoft PC Accessories We’re also introducing two new Microsoft accessories bundles designed to help make you more productive and comfortable wherever your office is located. The Microsoft Ergonomic Desktop reduces fatigue and delivers exceptional comfort and control with a split keyboard design featuring a cushioned palm rest and an ultra-precise mouse with cushioned thumb rest. The Microsoft Bluetooth Desktop gives you a full-sized keyset in a slim and modern design and a compact, stylish mouse that fits comfortably in your hand. The Microsoft Ergonomic Desktop is priced at $89.99 and the Microsoft Bluetooth Desktop is priced at $59.99. The new Surface Go 2, Surface Book 3, Surface Headphones 2, Surface Earbuds, Surface Dock 2 and accessories are available for preorder today in select markets and will roll out to all Surface markets in the coming months. To help better address the global demand we are seeing for Surface, we excited to share that we will bring Surface to Mexico and South Africa later this year. We hope these new products will not only help people be more productive from wherever they are currently working and learning, but also help people find moments of focus and relaxation. With our most complete Surface portfolio ever, we have devices and accessories to meet a broad set of needs. Find the Surface that’s right for you. We can’t wait to see what you’ll do with it. - Robin

Available for preorder today, new Surface devices and accessories are designed to help you work, learn, connect and play from anywhere

Surface Go 2 delivers incredible value in a light, portable design, providing a great device for anyone in your company or family.
Surface Book 3 is our most powerful laptop ever. Designed for professionals who need desktop-level performance from anywhere, this is the powerhouse workstation.
The Surface Headphones 2 and Surface Earbuds complete your Surface experience, helping you find focus wherever you are and stay connected to the people and content that matters.
The Surface Dock 2 and the multi-port Microsoft USB-C Travel Hub help you set up the ultimate workspace wherever that may be.

Surface Go 2

https://www.youtube.com/embed/NUw8jZl1hX0 We created Surface Go to offer a more affordable and portable 2:1 to the Surface line. Organizations like Law School Admissions Council, Renault/F1 and National Healthcare Services in the U.K., and schools like Blue Springs School District in Missouri and Aichi Prefecture in Japan, have chosen Surface Go for its compact design, the versatility of the touch screen, keyboard, Pen and added connectivity of LTE Advanced. Surface Go 2 keeps the same thin, lightweight design, but now offers a larger 10.5-inch PixelSense display, improved battery life and a model with up to 64% faster performance than the original with 8^th Generation Intel® Core™ M options for the first time. We’ve added Studio Mics, our dual microphone solution, to increase voice clarity and reduce background noise for Teams meetings or video chats, and a 5MP front-facing camera delivers sharp video even in low light. We’ve also added the new Camera app for the rear-facing camera to make it easy to scan documents and whiteboards – whether you’re sharing notes from a meeting or turning in homework. Paired with Surface Pen, Surface Go 2 allows distance learners and remote workers to stay digital, while unlocking the power of natural ink for things like drawing diagrams, marking up documents or working through math equations. You can personalize your Surface Go with Type Covers, Sleeves and accessories in a variety of colors, including Platinum, Black, Poppy Red, and Ice Blue. Surface Go 2 starts at $399 and will be available starting May 12.

Surface Book 3

https://www.youtube.com/embed/kYFnAnmwG5c When we first designed Surface Book, our goal was to give people the power of a desktop, the versatility of a tablet, and the freedom of a light and thin laptop in one beautifully designed device. Developers, designers and professionals rely on Surface Book for coding and compiling, workloads in Adobe and Autodesk, and for gaming with Xbox Game Pass for PC or on Steam. Surface Book 3 is our most powerful laptop ever, providing up to 50% more performance than Surface Book 2 and up to 17.5 hours of battery life. Whether you choose 13-inch or 15-inch, Surface Book 3 has beautifully crisp, high-DPI PixelSense Display, smooth, precise trackpad, comfortable keyboard and the performance of 10^th Generation Intel® Core™ processors and choice of discrete NVIDIA® GeForce GTX™ or Quadro RTX™ GPUs. For developers that push the computing and IO performance of their device, Surface Book 3 now comes with up to 32GB of RAM and the fastest SSD we have ever shipped. For people who love to game, Surface Book 3 15-inch has an NVIDIA GeForce GTX™ GPU with enough power to play the top Xbox Game Pass for PC titles at 1080p in a smooth 60 frames per second. We’ve also added a new option with the NVIDIA Quadro RTX™ 3000 to better meet the needs of commercial customers and higher education institutions. Surface Book 3 starts at $1599 and will be available starting May 21.

Surface Headphones 2

People tell us that putting on headphones is today’s equivalent of shutting the office door to focus and connect in any setting. Surface Headphones 2 are designed to slip comfortably over your ears and surround you with spectacular sound quality, including 13 levels of ambient noise control. We improved sound quality and battery life, bringing you up to 20 hours of clear sound. Our active noise cancellation is adjustable through intuitive on-ear dials and specifically tuned to either block out or amplify human voices. This comes in handy when you are trying to work from home with roommates, kids, significant others or pets. We updated the ear cup design to rotate 180 degrees for greater comfort when wearing around your neck, and added a beautiful Black finish option in addition to our classic Platinum. Surface Headphones 2 are priced at $249 and will be available starting May 12.

Surface Earbuds

We know there are times when you want to be connected without fully shutting out the world – such as listening to music while out for a run or taking a call while making dinner. Featuring an ultra-comfortable and stable fit, Surface Earbuds offer intuitive touch controls so you can start a phone call or change the song without taking out your phone. Experience rich, immersive Omnisonic sound and instantly play Spotify from your Android phone with a triple tap on either earbud. Screen-free integration with Microsoft 365 lets you catch up on emails with Play My Emails in the Outlook Mobile App for iOS or allow you to dictate in Word, Outlook or PowerPoint. Enjoy all-day battery life with the included wireless charging case. Surface Earbuds are priced at $199 and will be available starting May 12.

Surface Dock 2

The ability to connect to monitors, accessories and additional storage can help you set up the ultimate workspace. Surface Dock 2 helps you expand your workspace with a simple magnetic click and delivers faster charging, higher data transfer rates and the enterprise management tools people have been asking for. We’re also announcing a new multi-port Microsoft USB-C Travel Hub to give you more ways to connect to networks, displays and USB-C™ accessories when you’re on the go. Surface Dock 2 is priced at $259.99 and the Microsoft USB-C Travel Hub is priced at $99.99. Both will start shipping to customers later this month in select markets.

Microsoft PC Accessories

We’re also introducing two new Microsoft accessories bundles designed to help make you more productive and comfortable wherever your office is located. The Microsoft Ergonomic Desktop reduces fatigue and delivers exceptional comfort and control with a split keyboard design featuring a cushioned palm rest and an ultra-precise mouse with cushioned thumb rest. The Microsoft Bluetooth Desktop gives you a full-sized keyset in a slim and modern design and a compact, stylish mouse that fits comfortably in your hand. The Microsoft Ergonomic Desktop is priced at $89.99 and the Microsoft Bluetooth Desktop is priced at $59.99. The new Surface Go 2, Surface Book 3, Surface Headphones 2, Surface Earbuds, Surface Dock 2 and accessories are available for preorder today in select markets and will roll out to all Surface markets in the coming months. To help better address the global demand we are seeing for Surface, we excited to share that we will bring Surface to Mexico and South Africa later this year. We hope these new products will not only help people be more productive from wherever they are currently working and learning, but also help people find moments of focus and relaxation. With our most complete Surface portfolio ever, we have devices and accessories to meet a broad set of needs. Find the Surface that’s right for you. We can’t wait to see what you’ll do with it. - Robin

What’s new in Surface for Business: enabling multinational deals and new product configurations

Mon, 11 Mar 2019 16:00:22 +0000

As we discussed in our last Surface for Business blog, the Surface for Business portfolio is tailored specifically for commercial and education customers. We are constantly listening to and learning from our customers and have an amazing team dedicated to continually improving our products. Today I’m excited to announce new offerings that aim to help businesses better serve their customers, enable their employees and empower students. Enabling more multinational deals and expanding configurations for Surface Pro and Surface Laptop We have heard requests to enable broader market support so multinational corporations can purchase Surface on a more global basis to outfit workers across subsidiaries and regional offices. Therefore, we are authorizing commercial partners to sell select configurations of Surface Pro 6 for Business and Surface Laptop 2 for Business in 11 additional European markets: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. These offerings will leverage an International English keyboard (Surface Pro Type Cover sold separately) and include local languages in the operating system image, with availability beginning May 1, 2019. There is also growing interest from commercial customers wanting to outfit mainstream productivity employees with devices containing 16GB memory. While 16GB memory options are already available on Intel Core i7 models of various Surface devices, we are now offering a configuration of 16GB memory on an Intel Core i5 model with 256GB storage for both Surface Pro 6 and Surface Laptop 2. We are offering these configurations in the U.S. and Canada this month and will evaluate opportunities to expand this configuration more broadly in the future. Celebrating commercial and education customer success We continue to be inspired by how our commercial and education customers are using Surface for Business devices to drive transformation within their industries and better serve their customers, employees and students. Here are a few recent examples:

The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) administers the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) – the only assessment tool accepted by every law school in the United States and Canada – to 100,000 potential law school applicants worldwide each year. As part of a broader technology initiative with Microsoft, LSAC will use Surface Go for the new Digital LSAT platform launching in July 2019. Among the reasons LSAC selected Surface Go were the numerous Windows 10 accessibility features available for test takers who need them, overall quality and reliability which is critical for users in such a high-stakes exam, and the Surface Go kickstand which allows test-takers the flexibility to angle the screen for their own comfort.
Future of StoryTelling (FoST) supports a passionate community of people from the worlds of media, technology and communications who explore and transform how storytelling is evolving in the digital age. A year ago, FoST themselves recognized the need to transform how it uses technology to operate more effectively. They replaced a combination of Apple and other devices with Surface devices allowing employees to “select one that matches their preferences and work habits.” Interoperability was particularly important: “The way Surface devices work so smoothly with Office 365, with the applications we use, and with each other is impressive [and] makes our day-to-day jobs much easier.”
Play’n GO specializes in developing top-quality gaming platforms and software for online and land-based casinos. They grew substantially over the last five years and recently switched the computers they use to collaborate and create on, at the same time as their switch to Microsoft 365—with Surface Laptop as the standard and Surface Studio for the art team. “For the first time in nearly 15 years, I can hold a PC in my hand that has a build quality equal to that of an Apple device. The Surface Laptop is the most reliable, problem-free laptop of any brand I’ve used,” says Christoffer Tykö, Internal IT Team Leader at Play’n GO. This standardization and the reliability of Surface devices has already helped decrease the time IT employees need to dedicate to troubleshooting company hardware, freeing the department to handle other responsibilities. The use of a unified, comprehensive solution has also paid dividends in employee productivity.

Learn more about Surface for Business or Surface for Education, check with your local reseller or contact your Microsoft representative to see which devices and prices are available for your organization or your school today. As we discussed in our last Surface for Business blog, the Surface for Business portfolio is tailored specifically for commercial and education customers. We are constantly listening to and learning from our customers and have an amazing team dedicated to continually improving our products. Today I’m excited to announce new offerings that aim to help businesses better serve their customers, enable their employees and empower students. Enabling more multinational deals and expanding configurations for Surface Pro and Surface Laptop We have heard requests to enable broader market support so multinational corporations can purchase Surface on a more global basis to outfit workers across subsidiaries and regional offices. Therefore, we are authorizing commercial partners to sell select configurations of Surface Pro 6 for Business and Surface Laptop 2 for Business in 11 additional European markets: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. These offerings will leverage an International English keyboard (Surface Pro Type Cover sold separately) and include local languages in the operating system image, with availability beginning May 1, 2019. There is also growing interest from commercial customers wanting to outfit mainstream productivity employees with devices containing 16GB memory. While 16GB memory options are already available on Intel Core i7 models of various Surface devices, we are now offering a configuration of 16GB memory on an Intel Core i5 model with 256GB storage for both Surface Pro 6 and Surface Laptop 2. We are offering these configurations in the U.S. and Canada this month and will evaluate opportunities to expand this configuration more broadly in the future. Celebrating commercial and education customer success We continue to be inspired by how our commercial and education customers are using Surface for Business devices to drive transformation within their industries and better serve their customers, employees and students. Here are a few recent examples:

The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) administers the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) – the only assessment tool accepted by every law school in the United States and Canada – to 100,000 potential law school applicants worldwide each year. As part of a broader technology initiative with Microsoft, LSAC will use Surface Go for the new Digital LSAT platform launching in July 2019. Among the reasons LSAC selected Surface Go were the numerous Windows 10 accessibility features available for test takers who need them, overall quality and reliability which is critical for users in such a high-stakes exam, and the Surface Go kickstand which allows test-takers the flexibility to angle the screen for their own comfort.
Future of StoryTelling (FoST) supports a passionate community of people from the worlds of media, technology and communications who explore and transform how storytelling is evolving in the digital age. A year ago, FoST themselves recognized the need to transform how it uses technology to operate more effectively. They replaced a combination of Apple and other devices with Surface devices allowing employees to “select one that matches their preferences and work habits.” Interoperability was particularly important: “The way Surface devices work so smoothly with Office 365, with the applications we use, and with each other is impressive [and] makes our day-to-day jobs much easier.”
Play’n GO specializes in developing top-quality gaming platforms and software for online and land-based casinos. They grew substantially over the last five years and recently switched the computers they use to collaborate and create on, at the same time as their switch to Microsoft 365—with Surface Laptop as the standard and Surface Studio for the art team. “For the first time in nearly 15 years, I can hold a PC in my hand that has a build quality equal to that of an Apple device. The Surface Laptop is the most reliable, problem-free laptop of any brand I’ve used,” says Christoffer Tykö, Internal IT Team Leader at Play’n GO. This standardization and the reliability of Surface devices has already helped decrease the time IT employees need to dedicate to troubleshooting company hardware, freeing the department to handle other responsibilities. The use of a unified, comprehensive solution has also paid dividends in employee productivity.

Meet Surface Hub 2

Panos Panay — Tue, 15 May 2018 12:55:45 +0000

A new culture of work is emerging. One where unlocking the power of the team has never been more important. I see it with our team daily. People coming together, creating together. Making products stronger through collaboration, whether they’re in the same room or separated by thousands of miles. Today’s most effective businesses have a team-based, collaborative culture and place an emphasis on enabling creativity and productivity. In fact, companies that promote collaborative working are five times as likely to be high-performing. It’s not just that how we work is changing, it’s that where we work is changing too. The environment around us is shifting – towards open offices, huddle rooms, and team work spaces – in fact, in three years, half the global workforce will be mobile. It’s an exciting time to be in the devices business, because the creation of new form factors and software experiences will not only lead us to work in new ways, but also in new spaces designed for collaboration. There is a need for a device built for teams and designed for these new environments. To help people collaborate whether they are in the office, at home, or travelling the world. To move beyond just passing along information, to a world where they are collaborating real-time, in an efficient, and intuitive way.

Today, I’m excited to introduce that device, the next generation – Surface Hub 2.

Unlock the power of the team

Surface Hub 2 was designed from the ground up to be used by teams - to get people out of their seats, to connect and ideate, regardless of location. The new Surface Hub 2 is sleeker, more agile and more affordable to fit any workspace or work style. The gorgeous 4K+ 50.5” multi-touch display creates an inviting canvas to co-create, harnessing the power of Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Whiteboard, Office 365, Windows 10 and the intelligent cloud. The 4K cameras that rotate with the device, integrated speakers and far field mic arrays allow everyone in the meeting to feel as if they are right in the room with the rest of the group, while our standard Surface 3x2 aspect ratio means everyone has more usable space to create and collaborate.

Perfect for any space

Surface Hub 2 scales and adapts to your space through tiling up to 4 screens together in portrait or landscape view. Dynamic rotation allows you to use the best orientation for your content to help people work in the way that best suits them and the people they are collaborating with. It is also significantly easier to move around your workspaces than its predecessor. We’ve teamed up with workplace expert Steelcase to create a system of rolling stands and easy-to-use mounts to help Surface Hub 2 customers be truly mobile, gain a new perspective and capture their ideas wherever they do their best work.

The magic of tiling

Tiling is one of my favorite features on Surface Hub 2. Seeing four of the beautiful Surface Hub 2s lined up together has undeniable visual effect and will have a profound impact on what groups can accomplish together, allowing users to display multiple pieces of content side-by-side. Imagine how much your team could get done being able to work simultaneously across Microsoft Whiteboard, PowerBI, PowerPoint, and a full view video call.

Move beyond meetings, to real-time teamwork

We’re passionate about creating experiences that allow the technology to fade into the background, so people and teams can be as productive and creative as possible. The original Surface Hub advanced this mission, making it possible to join a meeting or open a whiteboard with one touch. Now Surface Hub 2 takes it even further with multi-user sign in. This feature is a truly magical experience. Using multi-user sign in, multiple people can authenticate in the same Surface Hub 2 workspace, allowing them to simultaneously access their documents and ideas, merging them with the ideas of their teammates – and making collaboration as natural as meeting at a whiteboard.

The future of collaboration is coming

We started on the journey of empowering teams with the original Surface Hub and the value it provides has resonated with businesses worldwide. We’ve sold to more than 5000 customers across 25 markets. Over half of Fortune 100 companies have purchased Surface Hubs to improve team’s efficiency and how they collaborate – breaking down barriers and creating real business value. We believe our customers will love Surface Hub 2 even more. In 2018 we will begin to test Surface Hub 2 with select commercial customers. It will be available for purchase in 2019. For additional information on Surface Hub 2 please visit: microsoft.com/en-us/surface/business/surface-hub-2 We’ll share more soon. [wb_es sharestyle="blue" align="center" ]Meet Surface Hub 2[/wb_es] A new culture of work is emerging. One where unlocking the power of the team has never been more important. I see it with our team daily. People coming together, creating together. Making products stronger through collaboration, whether they’re in the same room or separated by thousands of miles. Today’s most effective businesses have a team-based, collaborative culture and place an emphasis on enabling creativity and productivity. In fact, companies that promote collaborative working are five times as likely to be high-performing. It’s not just that how we work is changing, it’s that where we work is changing too. The environment around us is shifting – towards open offices, huddle rooms, and team work spaces – in fact, in three years, half the global workforce will be mobile. It’s an exciting time to be in the devices business, because the creation of new form factors and software experiences will not only lead us to work in new ways, but also in new spaces designed for collaboration. There is a need for a device built for teams and designed for these new environments. To help people collaborate whether they are in the office, at home, or travelling the world. To move beyond just passing along information, to a world where they are collaborating real-time, in an efficient, and intuitive way.

Today, I’m excited to introduce that device, the next generation – Surface Hub 2.

Unlock the power of the team

Perfect for any space

The magic of tiling

Move beyond meetings, to real-time teamwork

The future of collaboration is coming

Here’s how Burton Snowboards is creating products for riders around the globe

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 16:00:07 +0000

[caption id="attachment_261550" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Chris working through the design process on a Surface Studio.[/caption] Burton has been synonymous with the sport of snowboarding for decades. Since the company’s founding, Snowboarding has grown and evolved, even becoming an Olympic sport in 1998. Burton has been a key piece of the sport’s growth and transformation at every step. As the company looks ahead to emerging trends in the sport and charts its own transformation, we sat with Burton’s head of product, Chris Cunningham, to hear about how they create new products for riders around the globe and how Surface is coming into the process. [caption id="attachment_261541" align="alignnone" width="571"] Chris Cunningham, Head of Product for Burton[/caption]

Tell us about yourself. What do you do? How did this kind of work find you? What keeps you coming back every day?

My name is Chris Cunningham, and I am the Senior Vice President of Global Product here at Burton Snowboards. For some background… I was born and raised in the midwest (Indiana) and discovered snowboarding back in ‘91 when I was in seventh grade. I fell in love with the sport and have been snowboarding ever since. I come from an artistic family/background and tend to think like an engineer, but ultimately ended up going to business school (all due to proximity to the local ski hill). I joined Burton after graduating from Indiana University in 2000 and started in customer service with the goal to eventually work my way into the product department. By 2002, I landed my first ‘product’ job as an Assistant Product Manager of Bindings. From there I ascended the ranks of Product Manager, Category Manager, Director, Vice President, etc. Today, I oversee the entire Product Division for Burton that includes all categories and teams that are responsible for developing Burton’s product lines - from R&D through validation and production. What keeps me and many others coming back each and every day is the continuous pursuit to make better product. You're only as good as your last product line, and there is always the next revision, innovation, or leap forward around the corner. Having the opportunity to constantly work on products you love and use, and then obsess about how to make them better, then actually making it happen is my dream job. Burton is also just an amazing place to work…great people, vibe, etc.

Burton is a leader in the industry, building both apparel and equipment for athletes and riders. In your opinion, what drives the company’s success?

I think this is best answered by ‘The Burton Stance’ (image below). Put simply; we are a passionate group of riders that focus on what is best for riders. When you put the user at your focal point (this can be a pro snowboarder, average snowboarder, or even a beginner) the rest will follow. We are in it for the snowboarding, and I think that gives us an advantage. [caption id="attachment_261559" align="alignnone" width="948"] “The Burton Stance”[/caption]

Where do you get your creative inspiration?

Inspiration can come in many forms. Our creative teams pull from anything and everything that might provoke their interest. This can range from art, music, industrial design, architecture, furniture, fashion, etc. Creativity extends through the technical fundamentals of a product to the graphics. More than most outdoor gear, a snowboard presents a canvas for some amazing graphics design. We use both trend (WGSN) and consulting (Camp High Collective) services to help pull ourselves out of our comfort zone. We also simply work with a lot of talented and creative individuals that like to push themselves creatively. Sometimes getting inspiration can simply come from turning to your colleague, seeing what they are working on, and it sparks the next idea for your own category. Last, but not least, we pull inspiration from our professional team of riders. These individuals are at the forefront of what is happening in the world of snowboarding; simply listening to their interest, ideas, and needs, can quickly inspire our design teams.

What has your creative approach been? Tell us about your creative workflow; going from idea to product historically.

The workflow can vary from category to category, but the overall process isn’t too different between Hardgoods (products like snowboards, bindings, boots) and Softgoods (outerwear, accessories, backpacks). We like to kick off the season with what we call a ‘seasonal lens’ that helps us frame both our creative and business intents for the season. This lays down the foundation we work from. From there, new products and designs are briefed-in from our line planners to our Creative and Design teams. Ideas and concepts are then sketched and comped and the iterative process between designers, merchandising, engineering, etc. begins. We have a general stage gate process we move the work through until we get to a final design or proof of concept. From there, our proto and development teams come into the picture and start to turn concepts into actual prototypes we can touch and feel, and eventually validate through lab and on-snow testing. After a few more rounds, we eventually get to a final design and specification we feel confident can move into manufacturing/commercialization. Obviously, the complexity of the product or project can vary the timing of this process from just a few months to multiple years. [caption id="attachment_261553" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Chris Cunningham and Chris Doyle in Burton’s prototype lab.[/caption]

What excites you most about adding Surface devices into this process? What do you feel these products will allow your team to do that was either difficult or impractical previously?

We love to add new tools into our toolbox, and both the Surface Pros and Studios have been welcomed additions. The Surface Pro are such powerful little machines. While at my desk, it’s an extremely powerful and capable PC. When up and walking about the office, it becomes a useful tablet helpful in capturing notes, sharing ideas, presenting plans, etc. Our engineering and ID teams are using Surface Studios to explore new ways to work in 3D design. In many cases, the mouse is becoming obsolete, and I even had one design engineer suggest she might ‘ditch her keyboard altogether’ and just work from the screen. In either case, I think what Surface allows for a more immersive experience into the work on screen. It’s no longer point, click, type. It all about zoom, flip, scale, rotate, shade, draw, etc. [caption id="attachment_261556" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Chris and his team in a creative meeting where ideas are sketched.[/caption]

How has the sport changed during your tenure? With this in mind, how you approach reinventing and innovating something as well-known and well-loved as the snowboard?

Since joining Burton, the sport has only continued to evolve, and on so many fronts. Riders continue to progress to levels once thought never possible and with that, the expectations of the product progress as well. That is always a welcomed challenge for our teams. What’s less obvious is that over time the products we make for beginner riders and kids have made the sport far more accessible to anyone who wants to learn, and from a product perspective, that’s exciting too. Just the fundamentals of making product lighter, stronger, faster, can keep us coming back to the table ready to reinvent and innovate. As stated above, you're only as good as your last product line, so the question of ‘how can we make it even better?’ always exists. [caption id="attachment_261550" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Chris working through the design process on a Surface Studio.[/caption] Burton has been synonymous with the sport of snowboarding for decades. Since the company’s founding, Snowboarding has grown and evolved, even becoming an Olympic sport in 1998. Burton has been a key piece of the sport’s growth and transformation at every step. As the company looks ahead to emerging trends in the sport and charts its own transformation, we sat with Burton’s head of product, Chris Cunningham, to hear about how they create new products for riders around the globe and how Surface is coming into the process. [caption id="attachment_261541" align="alignnone" width="571"] Chris Cunningham, Head of Product for Burton[/caption]

Tell us about yourself. What do you do? How did this kind of work find you? What keeps you coming back every day?

Burton is a leader in the industry, building both apparel and equipment for athletes and riders. In your opinion, what drives the company’s success?

Where do you get your creative inspiration?

What has your creative approach been? Tell us about your creative workflow; going from idea to product historically.

What excites you most about adding Surface devices into this process? What do you feel these products will allow your team to do that was either difficult or impractical previously?

How has the sport changed during your tenure? With this in mind, how you approach reinventing and innovating something as well-known and well-loved as the snowboard?

Surface Archives | Microsoft Devices Blog

Unlock business potential with new 5G and Copilot+ PCs from Surface

Surface Pro 10 with 5G for Business

New Surface Copilot+ PCs for Business

Surface Pro, 11th Edition

Surface Laptop, 7th Edition

Surface Keyboard

Pre-order today

6 things to know about the new Surface devices

1 – Harnessing the potential of AI has never been easier

2 – A device designed to keep up with you, from work to play

3 – Elevated portability for those who are unstoppable

4 – Express yourself through bold colors

5 – Content to help you do more of what you love

6 – Find your perfect device and accessories with ease

Shop smarter, not harder

Microsoft’s commitment to accessibility: Creating products and services for people with disabilities

The evolution of accessible products at Microsoft

New products coming this fall

Accessibility features in Windows

Conclusion

New Surface devices bring more value to business

Meet Surface Laptop Studio 2​ for Business: Versatility to create, power to perform

Meet Surface Laptop Go 3​ for Business: Ultra-thin design, impactful performance

Meet Surface Go 4 for Business: Security, flexibility and durability for your frontline ​

Meet Surface Hub​ 3: The premium meeting experience for hybrid teams

Platform level improvements

Chip-to-cloud security

Management and deployment

Delivering value over time

Surface Pro 9 with 5G and Windows on Arm devices

Six-year commitment to software and firmware support

Announcing the availability of consumer replacement components for Surface devices

Replacement components by device:

Empowering collaboration in the hybrid workplace with Surface Hub 2S and Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera

Introducing Surface Go 2, Surface Book 3, Surface Headphones 2 and Surface Earbuds

Available for preorder today, new Surface devices and accessories are designed to help you work, learn, connect and play from anywhere

Available for preorder today, new Surface devices and accessories are designed to help you work, learn, connect and play from anywhere

Surface Go 2

Surface Book 3

Surface Headphones 2

Surface Earbuds

Surface Dock 2

Microsoft PC Accessories

What’s new in Surface for Business: enabling multinational deals and new product configurations

Meet Surface Hub 2

Today, I’m excited to introduce that device, the next generation – Surface Hub 2.

Unlock the power of the team

Perfect for any space

The magic of tiling

Move beyond meetings, to real-time teamwork

The future of collaboration is coming

Today, I’m excited to introduce that device, the next generation – Surface Hub 2.

Unlock the power of the team

Perfect for any space

The magic of tiling

Move beyond meetings, to real-time teamwork

The future of collaboration is coming

Here’s how Burton Snowboards is creating products for riders around the globe

Tell us about yourself. What do you do? How did this kind of work find you? What keeps you coming back every day?

Burton is a leader in the industry, building both apparel and equipment for athletes and riders. In your opinion, what drives the company’s success?

Where do you get your creative inspiration?

What has your creative approach been? Tell us about your creative workflow; going from idea to product historically.

What excites you most about adding Surface devices into this process? What do you feel these products will allow your team to do that was either difficult or impractical previously?

How has the sport changed during your tenure? With this in mind, how you approach reinventing and innovating something as well-known and well-loved as the snowboard?

Tell us about yourself. What do you do? How did this kind of work find you? What keeps you coming back every day?

Burton is a leader in the industry, building both apparel and equipment for athletes and riders. In your opinion, what drives the company’s success?

Where do you get your creative inspiration?

What has your creative approach been? Tell us about your creative workflow; going from idea to product historically.

What excites you most about adding Surface devices into this process? What do you feel these products will allow your team to do that was either difficult or impractical previously?

How has the sport changed during your tenure? With this in mind, how you approach reinventing and innovating something as well-known and well-loved as the snowboard?

Meet Surface Laptop Studio 2 for Business: Versatility to create, power to perform

Meet Surface Laptop Go 3 for Business: Ultra-thin design, impactful performance

Meet Surface Go 4 for Business: Security, flexibility and durability for your frontline

Meet Surface Hub 3: The premium meeting experience for hybrid teams