The Surface Studio: Microsoft releases touchscreen desktop and drawing board hybrid
The battle between Microsoft and Apple continues as the Redmond-based company unveils the very first desktop in its Surface line. The Surface Studio, which was revealed on Oct. 26 in New York, comes with an incredibly thin touchscreen display, which tilts down to become a tabletop PC.
The Surface Studio rests at a 20 degree angle when not being used as a desktop, which should be comfortable for drawing on the display. The screen itself measures 28 inches diagonally and has 13.5 million pixels, creating a pixel density of 192 pixels per inch. The screen is large enough that it is actually scaled to life, so items such as word documents print out exactly as it is seen by the user.
The LCD screen is only 1.3mm thick, while the overall computer is 12.5mm at its thickest. According to Microsoft VP of Surface, Panos Panay, the Surface Studio is the thinnest LCD ever made. Inside is a Core i5 or Core i7 quad-core processor, as much as 32GB of RAM and a 2.1 surround sound system.
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Coming with the Studio Surface is the Surface Pen, which has become standard for all Surface products and allows users to easily draw on the display. In addition, the desktop also comes with a new Surface Dial which looks very much like a jog wheel. When placed on the screen, the Dial will automatically bring up a context-aware menu. In a drawing application, for example, the dial will provide colour and pen options.
The Surface Dial itself was made to feel like an actual mechanical product and was inspired by a safe dial. The team behind the device used a haptic engine to make it feel less digital. It runs on two AAA batteries, which will reportedly last a year and connects to the Surface Studio via Bluetooth Low Energy technology.
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The Surface Studio is currently available for preorder. According to Microsoft, the device will start shipping “in limited quantities” before the holidays. Pricing begins at US$2,999 (AU$3,930).
Watch the Surface Studio introduction
