Device innovation opportunities in mixed reality, gaming, and cellular PCs

In October, I shared how the Windows 10 Creators Update will empower a new wave of creativity, bringing 3D and mixed reality to everyone, enabling every gamer to be a broadcaster, and much more. At our core, we are all creators. Whether an artist, an architect, a teacher or student, a business professional on the go or a hardware engineer building innovative devices for the future, each of us creates using technology in our own way – and we are building Windows for each of you.

Today, we’re at the Windows Hardware Engineering Community event (WinHEC) in Shenzhen, China –where our OEM partners have created more than 300 Windows devices shipping in 75 countries generating more than 8 billion RMB in revenue for Shenzhen partners. We continue this journey with Intel, Qualcomm and hardware engineering creators from around the world. Together, we will build the next generation of modern PCs supporting mixed reality, gaming, advanced security, and artificial intelligence; make mixed reality mainstream; and introduce always-connected, more power efficient cellular PCs running Windows 10.

A new wave of modern PCs

Windows has always been about deep partnerships that marry the best innovation across hardware, software, and services to provide our customers with ground-breaking experiences and great device choices. One of our most important partners making this possible is Intel, and today, I’m thrilled to announce our latest collaboration, codenamed “Project Evo.”

With Project Evo, Microsoft and Intel will deliver all-new ways for devices to light up with the latest in advanced security, artificial intelligence and Cortana, mixed reality, and gaming. Through this collaboration, devices of the future will leverage Microsoft and Intel innovations including:

• Far-field speech communications so you can ask Cortana a question or play a song from across the room.
• The latest security capabilities to protect devices from malware and hacking threats, advances in biometric authentication with Windows Hello, sophisticated insights from Microsoft’s Intelligent Security Graph, additional world-class security intelligence, and analytics from Intel.
• Mixed reality experiences for everyone through affordable PCs and head mounted displays (HMDs) that blend the physical and virtual realities in ways that no other platform can.
• Gaming innovations like eSports, game broadcasting and support for 4K, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Wide Color Gamut (WCG), spatial audio, and Xbox controllers with native Bluetooth.

Together, our work will extend these experiences to hundreds of millions of PC and HMD customers and raise the bar for what’s possible with Windows PCs.

Making mixed reality mainstream

Windows is the only platform unifying the mixed reality ecosystem, providing inside-out tracking for HMDs, a single platform and standardized inputs for developers, and a consistent interface with a single store for customers.

Today, we announced several new ways we’re making mixed reality mainstream in 2017:

• We submitted Microsoft HoloLens for government approval in China, and we look forward to making it available to developers and commercial customers in China in the first half of 2017.
• We shared the specifications that we co-developed with Intel for PCs that will power the first headsets capable of mixed reality. HMDs from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo will be available next year.
• Joining those partners, 3Glasses, the leading China-based hardware developer for HMDs, will bring the Windows 10 experience to their S1 device in the first half of 2017, reaching more than 5 million monthly active customers in China.
• Customers will gain access to amazing mixed reality content. This includes:
  • More than 20,000 universal Windows apps in the catalog
  • 3D objects from the web using Microsoft Edge to drag and drop into their physical world
  • Immersive WebVR content via Microsoft Edge
  • 360 degree videos available for the first time in the Movies & TV app
• Finally, HMD developer kits will become available to developers at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Visit this link to join us on the journey to make mixed reality mainstream.

Always connected, more power-efficient PCs coming to Windows 10

Finally, we talked about innovation that empowers creation in a connected, mobile world. Everyone is more mobile today than ever before in large part due to pervasive, faster, and more affordable cellular networks.

In future Windows 10 updates, we will enable connectivity that is always within reach. We will help customers easily buy data directly from the Windows Store and put them in control of how they use Wi-Fi and cellular networks, consume data, and manage costs. We will enable our partners to build always-connected devices without hindering form factor design. Specifically, partners can take advantage of eSIM technology to build devices without an exposed SIM slot, making it easier for people to activate a data plan right on their device.

Finally, to deliver on our customers’ growing needs to create on the go, we announced today that Windows 10 is coming to ARM through our partnership with Qualcomm. For the first time ever, our customers will be able to experience the Windows they know with all the apps, peripherals, and enterprise capabilities they require, on a truly mobile, power efficient, always-connected cellular PC.

Hardware partners will be able to build a range of new Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered Windows 10 PCs that run x86 Win32 and universal Windows apps, including Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office and popular Windows games.

With Windows 10 on cellular PCs, we will help everyone make the most of the air around them. We look forward to seeing these new devices with integrated cellular connectivity and the great experiences people love like touch, pen and Windows Hello, in market as early as next year.

The software and hardware innovations we have seen today position us all to continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible. Together, we can fulfill our mission to build technology that serves all of us, by ensuring there are devices for the creator in each of us.

Terry

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