It’s not the Microsoft TV, it’s the Surface Hub
Business-focussed Hub is like a giant tablet to stick to your wall
At the Windows 10 briefing on Wednesday there was a mysterious Microsoft TV in the background. We were all excited about a TV with built-in Windows, Xbox gaming and movie streaming, as well as a chance to play Space Cadet Pinball on a huge touchscreen.
However, it was nothing of the sort. The big telly was in fact the Microsoft Surface Hub – an extra-specially fancy digital whiteboard. The Surface Hub is an 84in, 4K display with “built-in compute” – essentially, a massive tablet. It has built-in cameras, speakers, microphones, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC.
All this connectivity makes it perfect for conference calls and wireless presentations, but the fact the Surface Hub is running a proper operating system means you can also use apps to crib images from presentations, scribble notes on them and send them to contacts, all while chatting to teams all over the globe via Skype.
Microsoft demonstrated the power of the Surface Hub by opening an app showing a 3D model, panning around, zooming in and out then putting the app to one side of the screen, grabbing a screenshot, scribbling on it with a pen and sending it on, all with colleagues attending virtually in the background.
Perfect for global companies and a great way to liven up a meeting room, then, but not something killer for your living room.