A new Microsoft Surface event is headed for London as the company holds their annual "Microsoft Future Decoded" session series. This event series takes place on the 31st of October and the 1st of November 2017 at ExCeL London. Microsoft's own Panos Panay is set to speak - he's Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Devices, and his job is almost always to reveal the next generation in Surface tablets.
Microsoft has pushed back at Consumer Reports' decision to strip the Surface range of its "recommended" award, arguing that its actual reliability is much better than was claimed. Consumer Reports had previously granted both the Surface Laptop and the Surface Book its coveted recommendation, based on factors such as performance and design. However, it backtracked after surveys of existing Surface owners reported significantly higher problems with their laptops and tablets compared to the rest of the industry.
Microsoft might be reconsidering its Consumer Reports subscription today, with the news that the Surface Laptop and Surface Book have both been stripped of their "recommended" status. Concerns about reliability of the Surface line-up as a whole have prompted the review organization to backtrack on its awards, in addition to suggesting that the Surface Pro shouldn't be among your top considerations for a 2-in-1 hybrid, either. Microsoft is suitably outraged, as you'd expect, and indeed there are some big questions around just what Consumer Reports is testing and how they're doing that.
Consumer Reports has withdrawn its recommendations for Microsoft's Surface laptop and 2-in-1 range, citing concerns about reliability after polling owners. The decision particularly impacts the latest Microsoft Surface Laptop and the Surface Book, which the reviews organization had initially awarded its coveted "recommended" designation. However, Consumer Reports says it also applies to the Surface Pro released earlier in the year.
Over the last few years, as Microsoft's Surface has grown more popular as a tablet device, we've heard occasional rumors about the development of a smaller sized model. Turns out Microsoft planned to announce a Surface Mini back in 2014, alongside the Surface Pro 3, but cancelled the product only days before its planned debut. Now we're getting our first peek at the never-before-seen device thanks to a set of leaked photos.
The Surface Pro Review we have here passes judgement on the Surface Pro released in June of 2017, as first outlined earlier this year. With the newest version of the Surface Pro, Microsoft made an equivalent to the iMac G4 by combining two important elements. The Microsoft Surface Pro (2017) is both enjoyable to use in a unique way, and it’s reliable. The unique/enjoyable factor comes from the keyboard attachment – the one that doesn’t come standard with the Surface itself.
At first glance, Microsoft has knocked the new Surface Pro out of the park. Coming hot on the heels of the Surface Laptop, the tablet-that's-a-notebook (and which mustn't be called the Surface Pro 5, oh no) could've been overshadowed by its Alcantara-clad clamshell sibling. Instead, Microsoft has gone down the wishlist of existing owners and ticked all the boxes. Well, all apart from one.
Consumers and geeks who were disappointed by Microsoft's latest product announcements had good reason to be. Windows 10 S is not something end consumers would want to buy and the Surface Laptop is a beautiful but overpriced laptop. Where are the Surface Pros? Where are the Surface Phones? While Microsoft might not exactly have answers to those, especially the latter, it does have something prepared. You'll have to wait later this month and turn your gaze Eastward to find out.
Microsoft has quietly announced a new tool that makes it easy to abandon Mac in favor of its own Surface products. Aptly called ‘Mac to Surface Assistant,’ this tool allows macOS users to quickly back up folders of their own choosing to a USB flash drive or hard drive, which can then be used to transfer the content to a Surface laptop as a single ZIP file.
Microsoft has patented a folding, flexible smartphone which could open out into a far more practical tablet, potentially teasing a possible Surface Phone form-factor. The patent, granted earlier this month, describes a "Mobile Computing Device having a flexible hinge structure" or, in other words, a portable gadget the size of a smartphone when collapsed, but which can be opened up for a far larger interface. Indeed, Microsoft actually has multiple designs on the same core theme.
The word “Surface” in Microsoft has come a long way. It started out as a futuristic idea of a coffee table that also functioned as a touch screen computer. Since then it has become a brand than embraced 2-in-1 tablets, a giant whiteboard/screen computer, and, more recently, an all-in-one PC that’s a creative’s wet dream. It might, however, come full circle soon. A recent Microsoft patent filing for an “INTERACTIVE INTEGRATED DISPLAY AND PROCESSING DEVICE” shows the company toying again with the idea of a computer table, but one that uses projectors and sensors instead of more expensive touch screens.
The Microsoft Surface Studio was revealed this morning in a presentation that may be making Apple apprehensive. You see, Apple has an event taking place tomorrow, and they'll be revealing their own machines. It's likely Apple will have a set of new MacBook Pro units ready for the public then. But for now, Microsoft is attempting to get in while the getting is good.
