On Tuesday, October 6, 2015, Microsoft (News - Alert) held its Windows 10 Devices event. On stage, Microsoft’s Panos Panay introduced Microsoft’s revolutionary new laptop.
Panay demonstrated the newest addition to the Microsoft lineup and said, "We made the ultimate laptop; we made Surface Book."
Microsoft’s first in-house laptop has a 13.5-inch display, a trackpad made of glass, a backlit keyboard and the body is machined magnesium. And if that’s not enough to excite you, get this: the screen is detachable.
The Surface Book uses the latest generation of the Intel (News - Alert) Core processor and an Nvidia GPU with GDDR5 memory. It has a battery life of 12 hours and a “near silent” keyboard. Microsoft claims that it is the fastest 13-inch laptop ever made, and live-tested it against the MacBook Pro to prove it.
The Surface Book will run Microsoft’s newest OS, Windows 10. Since its official release, Windows 10 has generated a lot of positive buzz and favorable reviews. According to Microsoft there are already 110 million devices currently running Windows 10. Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella (News - Alert), commented that "It's amazing to see the innovation and momentum with Windows."
But the Book wasn’t Microsoft’s only heavyweight announcement. They also unveiled the newest addition to their smartphone line, Lumia.
Over the years Microsoft has not had the best luck when it comes to mobile phones. In fact, according to IDC the company has less than three percent of the global market share. The expectation is that this will change with the new Microsoft Lumia 950 series phones. Microsoft unveiled the $549 Lumia 950 and $649 Lumia 950XL.
The phones have 5.2 and 5.7-inch displays and powerful octacore and hexacore processors. Both come supplied with a 20 megapixel camera and a fast-charging USB-C type connector.
The phone can run universal Windows 10 apps, along with Microsoft's Office, Edge, OneDrive and Cortana. Panay said that "We want to bring the Windows 10 in your pocket to life." As of today, the only U.S. carrier that will support the new Lumia 950 is AT&T.
Microsoft also introduced the Surface Pro 4 which is said to be 50 percent faster than the Apple (News - Alert) MacBook Air computer. The newest tablet has a 12.3 inch screen with five million pixels, a very thin version of protective Gorilla Glass, a custom Microsoft chip, as well as a Microsoft Pen with 1.024 levels of pressure and a full-year of battery life.
The Surface Pro 4 has one terabyte of storage and up to 16 gig of RAM (News - Alert), along with four USB ports. The new tablet runs the Windows Hello feature in Windows 10, as do the new Lumia models. Windows Hello lets users log in family members just by having them look at the screen. There's also a fingerprint reader.
Nadella mentioned that “With Windows 10 and these new Microsoft devices, you are at the center of magical new experiences. We’re moving people from needing to choosing to loving Windows and these devices promise to fuel even more enthusiasm and opportunity for the entire Windows ecosystem.”
All new models will be available for preorder tomorrow, and go on sale October 26.