Microsoft unveiled its vision for the future of collaborative computing today and if your business wants in on the action, it won’t be cheap.
The Windows-maker’s newest PC is giant touchscreen that can be wheeled around from meeting room to meeting room, allowing everyone in the office to work together on one display. There’s a 50-inch model that is set to come out in June, but the company also teased an ungodly 85-inch version of the Microsoft Surface Hub 2 that will come down the pipeline in the future.
Microsoft invited some members of the press to its campus this month to get a look at the various new Surface Hub 2 machines in action. Along with a 50-inch display, the Surface Hub 2S packs an Intel 8th Gen Core i5 processor, three way stereo speakers, 8GB of RAM, 128GB SSD, Wi-Fi and Ethernet. All of that comes in a package that weighs 61.6 pounds and will cost you $8.999. If you want the extra accessories the price tag will run up to nearly $12,000.
This machine is basically designed to replace conference room TVs. Instead of having employees just watch a presentation, they can now engage with content directly on the screen and collaborate on ideas. You can mount it to a wall, or pay $1,450 for the stand with wheels.
Other accessories include a $1,400 battery expansion that gives you two hours of battery life. A 4K camera can also be added for video conference calls. If you don’t want all the PC hardware inside, Microsoft says it will eventually make Surface Hub 2 available as just a standalone display.
Surface Hub 2 ships with a modified version of Windows 10. Software is limited to Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform apps. The usual office apps like Word, PowerPoint and Excel are on there as well as Skype.
It will be interesting to see how many of these behemoths Microsoft will be able to sell. You’d think even larger corporations would think twice before forking over at least $10k on multiple Surface Hub 2 units. Most of the good hardware and software won’t even be available until 2020 though.
Via: Engadget
