Out of nowhere Microsoft launched a brand new corporate product today, the Surface Hub 2. This is a collaborative screen with huge size and even a set of wheels to help it move around. It can rotate into a portrait mode and also be used in landscape mode.
The Surface Hub was only used in corporations and for presentations, plus collaborative work in meeting rooms. It’s the kind of machine to show financial projections on, expert stuff, projects and something for a team of chairmen to glance at. The Surface Hub 2 keeps the same line and offers a 50.5 inch 4K+ display, with the resolution being still in development.
The screen can be rotated with a slight push, which makes it a huge portrait display. This makes it ideal for scribbling notes with colleagues, video chatting with other peeps and that on an almost life size environment. One step closer to a hologram, for sure. Microsoft will provide rolling cases and mounts for the product, developed with Steelcase and Microsoft partnered with them last year to design creative workspaces.
The aspect ratio is 3 x 2, while most screens are 2:1 or 16:9. This one is a connected display, dubbed a “huddle board” by Panos Panay. Touchscreen is also in the mix, plus “throwing” documents to the device from the computer and you can control presentations from the phone. No pricing just yet, but the product comes in 2019, so the specs are also TBD.
A fingerprint scanner will be included, far field microphones too and powerful cameras. At least a 4K webcam has been integrated here. The Surface Hub OG was priced at around $9000, while Google has its own digital whiteboard priced at $5000. Over half of Fortune 100 companies own a Surface Hub, so that’s what’s up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DbslbKsQSk