The business world as we know it has evolved to focus more heavily on the importance of collaboration and teamwork. Studies show that companies invested in collaborative working have a five times higher chance of being high-performing. It’s no wonder that so many businesses are in search of peripherals and endpoints that help them empower the average team.
Microsoft, a leader in digital communications and technology, recently revealed the next generation of their conference room display to support this new communication and collaboration environment. The Surface Hub 2 features a broad range of exciting new features intended to elevate professional conversations and encourage productivity.
Let’s take a look at what you can expect from the Microsoft Surface Hub 2.
Features of the Microsoft Surface Hub 2
Microsoft designed the Surface Hub 2 to support a company’s most valuable asset: it’s teams. In a world where employees are growing increasingly dispersed and diverse, collaborative tools and appliances that allow for more immersive working across geographical boundaries are increasing in popularity.
The first Surface Hub from Microsoft featured a choice between a 55-inch 1080p display and a 4K 84-inch option. The surface hub 2, on the other hand, is focusing exclusively on a 50.5-inch display with a resolution even higher than 4k. Other features include:
- 3:2 aspect ratio
- Extremely thin bezels
- Rotation orientation to tilt and adjust the screen
- Wall-mountable or roller-cart access
- Thumbprint login system for Windows Hello
- Support for two users logging into the same PC
- New Surface Pen
- Far-field microphone array
- 4K video camera
Benefits of the Microsoft Surface Hub 2
The Microsoft Surface Hub 2 was explicitly built for teamwork and collaboration. Microsoft wanted something that was more than just an interactive whiteboard, so they created the Surface Hub 2 to combine the biggest and best Microsoft Collab tools on the market. Benefits include:
- Smooth and streamlined collaboration: You can move through multiple components of the Microsoft portfolio easily without missing a beat. Enjoy enhanced collaboration features like multi-user sign-in and save your projects to the cloud.
- Ideal for huddle or meeting room: Whether you’re looking for a small and agile meeting space for impromptu conferences, or you need to address a vast conference room at once, the Surface Hub 2 has you covered. The system seamlessly scales and adapts to suit your needs, with rotation and tilting abilities too!
- Simple and effective set-up: Integrate your Surface Hub experience in a way that suits you. Microsoft even teamed up with a new company “Steelcase” to create easy-to-use wall mounts and rolling stands that simplify the process of transporting your Hub wherever you need to go.
Target Market & Regional Availability
Microsoft products are available worldwide, which means that almost anyone can tap into the next-level collaboration solutions that they have to offer. Microsoft believes that the Surface devices they create will help to support the future of collaboration in the workforce, particularly with the addition of Microsoft Teams to support unified communications.
The Surface Hub 2 is intended for companies that need to engage in immersive collaborative experiences on a regular basis. While it could be useful for any shape or size of business, it’s likely to be more widely embraced by mid-sized and large enterprise companies.
How to Buy & Pricing
We’re still in the early stages of speculation around Microsoft’s new Surface Hub 2 product. As such, we don’t have an exact price for the new piece of collaboration kit, and we’re unlikely to see an absolute cost before the product starts rolling out in 2019. However, it’s safe to say that we should expect the device to cost several thousand pounds (or dollars for our friends overseas)
While pricing is yet to be determined, Microsoft tells us that the cost will be in line with the similar devices in their portfolio. Since the last generation Surface Hub cost around $9,000, it’s not likely to be less than this. The Surface Hub 2 will be available directly from Microsoft.
FAQ & Finishing Thoughts
The initial Surface Hub device unveiled in 2016 was easily one of the most successful Microsoft Business surfaces in the market, with more than 5,000 customers purchasing the equipment. Microsoft hopes to continue driving a more exciting collaborative communication experience with the delivery of the Surface Hub 2.
From the ground up, the Surface Hub 2 was intended to help people get out of their seats and start genuinely collaborating on in-depth products. It’s a fantastic piece of equipment for those complex projects that require group collaboration, particularly when people in your team might be dispersed across a wide geographical space.
The newest Surface Hub is more agile, stunning, and beautifully structured to suit any work environment. The incredible multi-touch display could be the perfect canvas for co-creation, helping businesses of all shapes and sizes unlock better teamwork no matter where their experts might be located.
Q: What is Multi-User Sign-In?
A: With the Microsoft Surface Hub 2, Microsoft wanted to create an experience that felt completely natural and immersive. As such, they introduced a range of new features, including the option to open a whiteboard with one touch. One of the most impressive features is multi-user sign-in which allows multiple people to authenticate the same workspace on the Surface Hub 2. People can simultaneously access ideas and documents, and share them with teammates, so that working together feels as natural as drawing on a whiteboard.
Q: Why is there only one size of Surface Hub 2?
A: The previous Surface Hub design came in two different sizes. However, this year, there’s only the option for a single size. According to Microsoft, the reason for this single-size option is that they believe it will help them to make collaboration more “affordable and dynamic” for any environment. Microsoft also reminds users that they can get more than one Surface Hub 2 if necessary.
