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Microsoft Debuts 84-Inch Surface Hub Touch Display, HoloLens Augmented Reality Headset

Role Reversal

You have to admit that in many ways Apple has become Microsoft and Microsoft has become Apple.

I was and in some ways still am an Apple fanboy. I had an Apple II, IIc, Mac, iMac, emac every flavor of iPhone available up until the 5, etc...

I worked with Apple and Steve Jobs on the entertainment for the product launch of the video iPod and also on one of the Silhouette Commercials.

I left Apple last year for Android and a Surface Pro 3 and also own an XBox One. The XBox One is the first device that I have owned and believe me I have owned them all (Apple TV, Chromecast, Google TV, FireTV, etc.) that allows for a seamless TV/entertainment/gaming/streaming experience. This will only get better with Windows 10.

I sold my 13" Macbook Air for a Surface Pro 3 and have been very satisfied and Apple was too little to late to the Phablet party so I left for Android.

Don't get me wrong. I think Apple makes the best hardware in the world, bar none, but that is Apple's problem. They are essentially a hardware company. They need to catch up in other areas including integration across products and the living room. Why is there not a true native Plex app for Apple TV for instance?

I would guess that their ARM chip vs. Intel is the roadblock to them developing their own version of the SP3. I would love to see it and would switch back in a minute if it were a great hardware and software product.

The tech world has changed immensely since 2001 when Apple was pushing the envelope. I've hung up my pom pom's and am just looking for the best product(s) that can give me what I want in the most seamless, way possible and also allows me to customize it without having to "jailbreak" it.

C'mon Apple get back in the game...
 
JHankwitz said:
With attempt after attempt after attempt to get customers to use 3D at the movies or on their computer or TV, what makes them think that holographic images might have a chance in hell of succeeding? The people have voted over and over, but they hear not.
Click to expand...

With attempt after attempt after attempt to get customers to use wearable watch tech on their forearms, what makes them think that an iWatch might have a chance in hell of succeeding? The people have voted over and over, but they hear not.

With attempt after attempt after attempt to get customers to embrace streaming music subscription on a mass scale, what makes them think that a Beats streaming revamp might have a chance in hell of succeeding? The people have voted over and over, but they hear not.

Entrepreneurs try things. The market decides if they want to "vote" for it or not. It might take 10,000 tries to finally get a working light bulb. Glad they didn't quit after 3 attempts or I might be writing this on parchment paper under candlelight.

----------
Mizouse said:
So how long before we see the surface hub on Hawaii 5-0?
Click to expand...

In the latter seasons of CSI Miami, they had something along these very lines and seemingly close to this size. On the show, it seemed very cool tech. At the time, it seemed like something that probably wouldn't come along as shown until about 2040, yet here's an announcement for something like that in just 2015.
 
aguess said:
You have to admit that in many ways Apple has become Microsoft and Microsoft has become Apple.

I was and in some ways still am an Apple fanboy. I had an Apple II, IIc, Mac, iMac, emac every flavor of iPhone available up until the 5, etc...

I worked with Apple and Steve Jobs on the entertainment for the product launch of the video iPod and also on one of the Silhouette Commercials.

I left Apple last year for Android and a Surface Pro 3 and also own an XBox One. The XBox One is the first device that I have owned and believe me I have owned them all (Apple TV, Chromecast, Google TV, FireTV, etc.) that allows for a seamless TV/entertainment/gaming/streaming experience. This will only get better with Windows 10.

I sold my 13" Macbook Air for a Surface Pro 3 and have been very satisfied and Apple was too little to late to the Phablet party so I left for Android.

Don't get me wrong. I think Apple makes the best hardware in the world, bar none, but that is Apple's problem. They are essentially a hardware company. They need to catch up in other areas including integration across products and the living room. Why is there not a true native Plex app for Apple TV for instance?

I would guess that their ARM chip vs. Intel is the roadblock to them developing their own version of the SP3. I would love to see it and would switch back in a minute if it were a great hardware and software product.

The tech world has changed immensely since 2001 when Apple was pushing the envelope. I've hung up my pom pom's and am just looking for the best product(s) that can give me what I want in the most seamless, way possible and also allows me to customize it without having to "jailbreak" it.

C'mon Apple get back in the game...
Click to expand...

Its what typically happens to any market leader in tech, whether it's smartphones or computers or OS's

you hit a point where you're seen as the best, and often you assume what you're doing now is obviously the best. You have to put some blinders on obviously to avoid looking behind you and making the mistakes your competition is,

but often you also miss what they're doing right, and start making your own mistakes.

Apple has seen itself for a short while seen as the company to play catch up to. And other companies are doing their damn hardest to come up with new ideas to do that. Microsoft was in that position before.
 
LordVic said:
Its what typically happens to any market leader in tech, whether it's smartphones or computers or OS's

you hit a point where you're seen as the best, and often you assume what you're doing now is obviously the best. You have to put some blinders on obviously to avoid looking behind you and making the mistakes your competition is,

but often you also miss what they're doing right, and start making your own mistakes.

Apple has seen itself for a short while seen as the company to play catch up to. And other companies are doing their damn hardest to come up with new ideas to do that. Microsoft was in that position before.
Click to expand...

Yes, my point exactly. The big difference with Apple is if Steve were still alive he would be pushing the envelope. The one thing that was crystal clear about him was that he cared more about results than he did about the bottom line. I'm not saying that the company should be run that way. However, one of the reason that many of the fanboys were created was because the company was being run by an irrational man who catered to the heart and soul of a tech fanboy as opposed to a corporate titan who is looking to protect market share and please shareholders.
 
aguess said:
Yes, my point exactly. The big difference with Apple is if Steve were still alive he would be pushing the envelope. The one thing that was crystal clear about him was that he cared more about results than he did about the bottom line. I'm not saying that the company should be run that way. However, one of the reason that many of the fanboys were created was because the company was being run by an irrational man who catered to the heart and soul of a tech fanboy as opposed to a corporate titan who is looking to protect market share and please shareholders.
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely sure thats true though. Steve Jobs had a huge cult of personality around him, and often as such many of the things we remember were things we were shown purposely.

to believe that He put quality ahead of profits might not be entirely true. His tenure did see many products released with bugs and issues, but the possible smaller scale of apple at the time meant it wasn't quite so glaringly obvious.

Now, when there are issues regarding products, it's typically affecting millions of more people than ever before. That is making the attention to it even greater.

its very easy to look back at Jobs life with rosy glasses because of his charisma and the presentation of himself as almost a "god" of apple. He was definitely more anal about being involved with products though than Tim Cook is (thats not a judgement on cook)
 
At least Microsoft is trying to innovate unlike apple still making products in different sizes, something they should've done 3 years ago. I love apple but I'm just saying..... #
 
LordVic said:
I'm not entirely sure thats true though. Steve Jobs had a huge cult of personality around him, and often as such many of the things we remember were things we were shown purposely.

to believe that He put quality ahead of profits might not be entirely true. His tenure did see many products released with bugs and issues, but the possible smaller scale of apple at the time meant it wasn't quite so glaringly obvious.

Now, when there are issues regarding products, it's typically affecting millions of more people than ever before. That is making the attention to it even greater.

its very easy to look back at Jobs life with rosy glasses because of his charisma and the presentation of himself as almost a "god" of apple. He was definitely more anal about being involved with products though than Tim Cook is (thats not a judgement on cook)
Click to expand...

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not remembering Steve with rosy colored glasses. I actually worked with (albeit tangentially) and met Steve. One thing that I know from him and others around him is that he was irrationally committed to the success of Apple and he wanted to crush all others. That's definitely not the mantra anymore, nor am I saying that it should be. The point that I am making is that the fanboy community needs to realize that Apple is more like the Seahawks (defense orientation) than the Patriots (offensive minded with good defense) , when in the past it was the other way around.

If Steve were alive I believe that he would have already ported MacOs to their ARM chip and would have beat Microsoft to the punch with the SP3. As it sits now they can't do that now even if they wanted to without a significant change in business strategy and parnterships (i.e. Intel).
 
(wait, i haven't seen Windows Weekly yet ...)

Looks like Microsoft has really gone up in the world...

Reckon this is anything to compete here ? Nah.....

I would have never thought MS would be the one to go VR.
 
LordVic said:
If all your devices are gettingb bad reception, its possibly your network providers in the area.

I've had several devices, blackberries, and Androids and in a region of Spotty LTE but great HSPA+ and get fantastic reception.

I'd give your carrier a call instead of blaming android and it's manufacturers (unless you're consitently buying used, old, or low end hardware)
Click to expand...

Oh it is terrible reception areas, but I need my phone to get some reception and be able to recover well when it does lose reception. Android does neither, or at least any Android phone I've owned. The Windows Ativ S from Samsung was even worst but it's just a Galaxy S3 anyway.

The iPhone 6 works flawlessly much to my chagrin.
 
I am going state very unpopular opinion here: I think Apple is missing the boat if it does not have a TV set in the pipeline.

Majority of the TV sets announced at CES are either running Android OS (or WebOS in case of LG) or at least Chrome Cast built-in.

I realize Apple does not release the product before they feel it's ready. But continuing to depend on Apple TV set top box for living room supremacy shouldn't be the company's only card.

Microsoft's 84" 4K is probably too extreme. The company is marketing it as an enterprise product (with Hawaii Five-0 product placement all but guaranteed) so naturally, it will have a price tag to go with it (somewhere between $5,000-10,000).

What I want is an always-on TV set doubling as a hub of iOS and Mac, that does not require me to switch input to Apple TV in order to interact with it. Anything less than 4K should be out of the question as it should have 802.11ac for improved AirPlay video mirroring from Mac.

And should "Apple TV" portion ever become outdated, one should be able to upgrade the TV by purchasing Apple TV set top box, which will integrate fully with the TV set.
 
This reminds me of the of those "fake" reviews of the iPhone having holographic keyboards. I won't believe it, until i see it :D
 
aguess said:
Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not remembering Steve with rosy colored glasses. I actually worked with (albeit tangentially) and met Steve. One thing that I know from him and others around him is that he was irrationally committed to the success of Apple and he wanted to crush all others. That's definitely not the mantra anymore, nor am I saying that it should be. The point that I am making is that the fanboy community needs to realize that Apple is more like the Seahawks (defense orientation) than the Patriots (offensive minded with good defense) , when in the past it was the other way around.

If Steve were alive I believe that he would have already ported MacOs to their ARM chip and would have beat Microsoft to the punch with the SP3. As it sits now they can't do that now even if they wanted to without a significant change in business strategy and parnterships (i.e. Intel).
Click to expand...

under inflated balls and all :p

(i'm just playing around)

no, I get ya. just having good discussion on it. I absolutely agree that the way Jobs handled it was more, hate to use the term "anal" about quality and making sure that the product was exactly his way. Thats not who tim cook is. he's a bean counter. he's in place to put the priorities of the board of directors and investors first.

its one of the reasons I believe Jobs was forced out originally. His controlling personality wanted to go a different direction than the board so he got pushed out.

Cook was never known, or hired to be a technology leader or inventor, or ven designer. he's a book keeper. And that is actually more in line with typical CEOs' in corporate life. Most CEO's' aren't rock stars.
 
I don't see those surface touch displays catching on. In my school, the interactive whiteboards are collecting dust as teachers feel they are more trouble than they are worth.

I doubt this technology can help make meetings more "productive".
 
McCool71 said:
I think Oculus Rift and to some extent Google Glasses just got schooled big time.
Click to expand...

Google is already giving up on Glass. They're going to donate unsold inventory to underprivileged douchebags in sub-Saharan Africa:

Unsold Google Glass Units To Be Donated To A******* In Africa
http://bit.ly/1J00n34
 
bbeagle said:
This is MAC rumors - these two devices (an 84 inch touch display and a reality headset) have NOTHING to do with Apple. Apple doesn't compete with these types of devices. This article should NOT be on this site.
Click to expand...

And yet people both read and comment a lot on this type of article.

Which means that a lot of people that frequent here are actually interested in technology on a broader spectrum than just within the Apple eco-system. I don't see how that is a bad thing.
 
blucurv said:
So far, they've shown 3d rendered post-production demos, but until someone physically tries and reviews it, we won't know if MS is serious about the project.
Click to expand...

You do realize that this was shown in a live demo on stage?

And it clearly knocked the socks off Wired when they got to try it out in October last year (but weren't allowed to publish anything about it until now)?

Our Exclusive Hands-On With Microsoft’s Unbelievable New Holographic Goggles

I don’t want to remove the headset, which has provided a glimpse of a combination of computing tools that make the unimaginable feel real.

www.wired.com/2015/01/microsoft-hands-on/
 
Good to see Microsoft finally implementing their vision of a unified OS across their devices.

As for the goggles, I'm a bit hesitant about basically placing a screen in front of your face for even more time each day, but seeing as EVERYONE (including apple) is rushing ahead with their VR projects we'll see where the chips fall.
 
Kudos to Microsoft, here. The hologram product looks really interesting.

It's also comical how some posters here are immediately shooting this down. We know you've pledged your allegiance to Apple, but try to see outside of the box.
 
scottsjack said:
Other than silly social stuff and a "new look" OS X really isn't any better than it was a couple of versions ago. So sad.
Click to expand...

In fact, Yosemite is a good deal less useable for me than previous versions. I can't even work with PDFs, which is what I do all day every day. It slows my system down like crazy. Apple couldn't even get the basics right with Yosemite.
 
unobtainium said:
In fact, Yosemite is a good deal less useable for me than previous versions. I can't even work with PDFs, which is what I do all day every day. It slows my system down like crazy. Apple couldn't even get the basics right with Yosemite.
Click to expand...

I work for a university with the 600 macs on campus. I'm using Yosemite on a 24" 2008 iMac, never had a problem once with PDFs. Unless you've done some troubleshooting that you haven't posted, I think your gripe with PDFs is something else going on other than Yosemite's version of Preview.
 
scottsjack said:
There is still no Mac for hardware enthusiasts, also no current display or 17" laptop.
Click to expand...

newsflash -- apple makes computers "for the rest of us", not for hardware enthusiasts. always been that way since the Apple II. id recommend building your own PC or hackintosh if thats your fancy.
 
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