Posted: 15 May 2018 06:00 AM PDT

Microsoft plans to ship a next-generation Surface Hub 2 in 2019, boasting a smaller, lighter, more modular design that will encourage workers to share the screen, as well as their notes and files.

Announced Tuesday, Microsoft said the new 50.5-inch Surface Hub 2 will boast a “4K plus” display in the traditional 3:2 ratio of Surface devices. It will weigh between 25 and 35 kilograms (55 and 77 pounds), making it smaller and lighter than the previous Surface Hub. Ryan Day, a spokesman for the company, described the adjustment in the design as “shipping a TV, not a piano.”

Just as the original Surface Hub’s 82-inch, 4K display blew users away, two hardware elements on the Surface Hub 2 should do the same. One is a rolling easel-like stand for a single unit, and the other is the ability to mount four Surface Hub 2s next to one another, creating a massive wall of pixels.

Microsoft Surface Hub 2 hero 001 — Up to four Surface Hub 2s can be mounted alongside one another, or a single hub can be placed on a rolling easel.

What this means to you: Like the original Surface Hub, don’t expect to pick up the Surface Hub 2 from your local electronics store. Remember how the Hub works: you organize a meeting, walk into the room, and present to your colleagues locally and remotely via dead-simple Skype video calls, whiteboarding, and other tools. It’s a solid, interesting concept, though as a wired device it can’t be as mobile as Millennials are. Nevertheless, the first Hub was impressive, and the Hub 2 looks sharp as well.

original microsoft surface hub — What the Microsoft Surface Hub 2 evolved from: the original Surface Hub.

A Surface for the conference room

Microsoft debuted the first-generation Surface Hub in January, 2015, at the remarkable event that also introduced the world to the HoloLens. More than a year later, the company shipped the monstrous 82-inch display for $22,000, clearly pricing it for enterprise budgets. (A 55-inch version was about $9,000.)

Microsoft surface hub 2 vid shot 1 — The Surface Hub 2 interface, as shown in this Microsoft demonstration video.

Microsoft’s original Surface Hub was somewhat rudimentary, with Skype and whiteboarding as the go-to apps. But as Microsoft’s concept of the workplace has evolved, the Surface Hub 2 will be a key component of what Microsoft now calls the “intelligent edge,” a catch-all term for the PCs, phones, and other devices that will interface with the “intelligent cloud” of Microsoft’s apps and services, Day said. With the Surface Hub 2, Microsoft’s trying to enable what it calls “immersive collaboration,” allowing as many people access to the device as possible.

Microsoft surface hub 2 vid button — Although Microsoft didn’t talk about it, the new Surface Hub 2 will apparently include a new thumb-driven interface that can switch between various apps.

“The environment around us is shifting – towards open offices, huddle rooms and team work spaces – and in three years half the global workforce will be mobile,” Panos Panay, Microsoft’s newly-appointed chief product officer, wrote in a blog post. “It’s an exciting time to be in the devices business, because the creation of new form factors and software experiences will not only lead us to work in new ways, but also in new spaces designed for collaboration.”

The Surface Hub 2 won’t be battery-powered, though Microsoft’s not saying exactly what technology will power it. It will have Wi-Fi. When mounted on a wall, up to four Surface Hub 2s can be daisy-chained, allowing them to function separately, or project a cohesive picture that straddles more than one Surface Hub 2. Day called this “tiling.”

Microsoft Surface Hub 2 4 tiles portrait 001 — Note that two of the Surface Hub 2s have modular cameras attached to the top, via a USB-C interface.

Though the Hub 2 will run Microsoft’s Whiteboard and Skype apps, as the first Surface Hub did, Teams will be the centerpiece of the new Surface Hub 2. Microsoft has seemingly made Teams its backchannel app for conducting meetings, serving as a means to connect employees and the various repositories of information, such as Trello or Azure, that the business can access. “I think that Teams will primarily be the way you’ll want to work within it, to get the full functionality,” Day said.

Like the first Hub, remote users will be able to connect to the Surface Hub 2 via other Surface devices and PCs. But the new Hub, like the old, was made for in-person interaction. That includes a new, thick Surface Hub 2 Pen—one of the new features Microsoft is confirming, though not really explaining.

Microsoft Surface Hub 2 surface hub 2 screens together — The new Surface Hub 2 Pen is shown here.

“With Hub, people love the beautiful hardware but they loved the interaction and the value they got from getting out of their chairs,” Day said.

Each Hub 2 will include a 4K camera for Skype, but users will log in using a fingerprint reader. The cameras will be modular, and will plug in via USB-C. They can rotate as the Hub 2 rotates from landscape to portrait mode and vice versa. Because two users can log in at once, the Surface Hub 2 will allow two users to collaborate on a project.

In this scenario, Day explained, one employee could present a PowerPoint deck or research paper to another employee, citing the original presentation and possibly some original research. The other could contribute data that she had collected, Day said. Though Microsoft already allows two or more users to jointly edit a document in Word or other Office apps, this takes collaboration to another level, Day explained.

Microsoft Surface Hub 2 surface hub 2 skype — Being able to talk with remote users, via Skype, as if they’re in the room is an important capability of the Microsoft Surface Hub 2.

In its video, Microsoft deliberately chose to show the Hub 2 with a Skype window open that displayed the remote caller at the same height and eye level as the user. That’s a capability that the original Hub offered, too, but Microsoft sees this as one of the understated but important psychological elements to encourage collaboration between remote users. Far-field mics clearly pick up their conversations.

Microsoft isn’t saying exactly what version of Windows the Surface Hub 2 will run—in part, of course, because by 2019 it’s possible that the company may have released one or two unannounced feature updates. Currently, the Surface Hub is powered by the Windows 10 Creators Update—two versions behind the current April 2018 Update that powers PCs. Day said the Surface Hub 2 will run a “variant” of the traditional Windows 10 OS, as it does today, including a one-touch shortcut to Teams.

microsoft cortana seeing hearing prototype — Is this the next entry in Microsoft’s hardware roadmap?

Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t plan to share further details of the Surface Hub 2 until later this year, including the price. Day allowed that it would be “competitive with what’s in market today.” Remember the $9,000 MSRP for the 55-inch version of the first-generation hub.

Some unanswered questions linger. Though Microsoft is announcing the Surface Hub 2 in time for businesses to start planning for purchases a year or two out, some—not all—of these capabilities will come to the original Surface Hub. It’s also not clear what sort of smarts Microsoft will be able to add to the Hub 2, when it’s a feature update or two behind—remember, the original didn’t even ship with Cortana enabled. And of course, we have no idea of the components inside.

Interestingly, Microsoft didn’t show off the Surface Hub 2 inside its “conference room of the future” demonstration at Build, its recent developer conference. Instead, it chose to use a prototype desktop device that used Microsoft’s cognitive services, and could both see and hear. Regarding that device, Day said he had nothing further to share.

“I don’t want to confirm or deny what’s going to be available in terms of that,” Day said of the device, which he called a “concept.” “We’ll have more to talk about [that device] this fall.”

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Bethesda Reveals Rage 2 With Game's First Trailer

Posted: 15 May 2018 06:22 AM PDT

Rage 2 is a real game. After Bethesda decided not to deny a recent leak of the game, it's officially announced the game is indeed in the works with its first trailer. Unfortunately, it doesn't showcase any gameplay, but that's just around the corner. Subsequently, an official website has provided us with a few more details--including one of the developers.

Rage 2's first trailer is comprised almost entirely of live action. A variety of characters who wouldn't look out of place in Mad Max's world can be seen fighting, wielding weapons, and... lifting weights. It doesn't provide any real indication of what to expect from the game, though it does seem to suggest the possibility of a somewhat lighthearted tone (or as lighthearted as can be in a post-apocalyptic world). It features the Andrew WK song "Ready to Die."

Bethesda said that a gameplay trailer will follow soon after this one; that video is due out on Tuesday, May 15. That's set to drop at the same time that this one did, at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET / 3 PM BST (12 AM AET on May 16). The company didn't share anything more, including a release date or platforms, though PC, PS4, and Xbox One seem like fair assumptions.

The official Bethesda website has been updated with an area devoted to Rage 2, and it reveals a bit more than the trailer. Answering the question of what Rage 2 is, it states, "Dive headfirst into a dystopian world devoid of society, law, and order. Rage 2 brings together a true open-world FPS experience where you can go anywhere, shoot anything, and explode everything." Additionally, the footer of the site notes that it was developed "in association" with Avalanche Studios, the studio responsible for the Just Cause series. It also developed 2015's Mad Max game.

A recent leak on Walmart Canada's website seemingly spilled the beans on games that many assumed were planned for E3 2018 reveals. It's unclear if that's the case with Rage 2, but Bethesda opted not to take the usual route of declining to comment. Instead, Rage's Twitter account jokingly made suggestions about problems with the listing, and Bethesda's account began sending out numerous teaser images.

Bethesda's E3 2018 press conference is set for Sunday, June 10. The company recently teased that it might be its longest one ever, although beyond Rage 2's inevitable appearance, we know little else about what will be included.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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Say hello to Google One

Posted: 14 May 2018 10:00 AM PDT

Google is revamping its consumer storage plans today by adding a new $2.99/month tier for 200 GB of storage and dropping the price of its 2 TB plan from $19.99/month to $9.99/month (and dropping the $9.99/month 1 TB plan). It’s also rebranding these storage plans (but not Google Drive itself) as “Google One.”

Going forward, you’ll also be able to share your storage quota with up to five family members.

That by itself would be interesting, given how easy it is to max out 100 GB with 4K videos and high-res images these days, but there is one other feature here that explains the new brand name: free one-tap access to Google Experts for help with any Google consumer product and service.

That access to live experts — not some barely functional AI chatbot — comes with every Google One plan, including the $1.99/month 100 GB plan. In the U.S., these experts will be available 24/7 over chat, email and phone. In other countries, this lineup of support options may vary, but the company tells me that its objective is “to provide users with great one-tap support and constantly improve it over time.”

Google already offered 24/7 support for paying business users with a G Suite account, but this is the first time it actively offers live support for consumers.

It’s worth stressing that the existing free quota of 15 GB will remain.

In addition to access to experts, the company also promises to provide subscribers with other benefits. Google One’s director Larissa Fontaine told me that those could include discounts on hotels you find in Google Search, preferred rates for other Google services or credits on Google Play. “We hope to build those out over time,” she noted.

Brandon Badger, Google’s group product manager for Google One, told me the team looked at how people use the storage plan. Users now have more devices, shoot more 4K video and share those files with more family members, who in turn also have more devices. “We are looking with this plan to accommodate that,” he said.

In addition, Fontaine noted that users with paid storage accounts also tend to be heavy Google users in general, so combining storage and support seemed logical.

Sadly, this isn’t an immediate change. Over the course of the next few months, Google will upgrade all existing storage plans to Google One accounts starting in the U.S., with a global rollout after that. Google also tells me that it will roll out a new Android app to help users manage their plans (not their files).

While the focus of today’s announcement is on storage, it’s hard not to look at this new offering in the context of the additional support and other bonus features that Google promises. Google One is clearly about more than simply a better storage plan offering. Instead, it feels like the beginning of a new, more ambitious offering that could be expanded to include other services over time. Maybe a single subscription to all Google consumer services, including Drive, YouTube Red and Play Music (or whatever becomes of that)? Despite its name, Google One is currently only one of many subscription services the company offers, after all.

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