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Microsoft Shares 'Productivity Future Vision' Video
In its latest forward-looking video, Microsoft shows how the future of productivity is bendable, wearable, and holographic.
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Microsoft has released its latest concept video, "Productivity Future Vision," to demonstrate how it believes technologies will evolve over the coming years.
According to the video, Microsoft's perception of the future of productivity relies heavily on mobile and holographic technology. Plenty of super-thin tablet devices appear throughout the video, and people are shown wearing earpieces multiple times.
Digital displays are everywhere. A scuba diver learns about marine wildlife via holography; another woman swipes through pages on a flexible thin-screen tablet that could potentially draw from Microsoft's research on bendable devices.
In addition to smaller handheld products, Microsoft places plenty of focus on large-screen displays. One woman interacts with a glass wall-length touchscreen display in her office and later communicates via video chat on a screen of the same size.
Scientists interact with a massive touchscreen smartboard, manipulating images and text, then conferring with a holographic figure onscreen. They later conduct research using 3D holograms. Both the larger screens and holography seem to evolve from the productivity-focused Surface Hub and Windows HoloLens that debuted during the Windows 10 press event in Redmond.
Regardless of size, it seems like all screens of the future will support digital pen technology. There's even a short clip of a woman tapping a cylinder to seemingly "fill" her pen with digital ink. Perhaps this technology will be the product of Microsoft's reported acquisition of digital pen maker N-trig?
One interesting star of Microsoft's show is the digital cuff that appears around 3:19. Though worn on the wrist, it seems less like a smartwatch and more like Internet-connected jewelry. Its wearer uses the cuff to accept notifications, receive directions, and scan for entry into a building. The wearer then unfolds it for use as a remote control.
Take a look at the other new technologies in Microsoft's video below:
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Kelly Sheridan is the Staff Editor at Dark Reading, where she focuses on cybersecurity news and analysis. She is a business technology journalist who previously reported for InformationWeek, where she covered Microsoft, and Insurance & Technology, where she covered financial ... View Full Bio
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David Wagner, User Rank: Strategist 2/27/2015 | 11:41:27 PM
Bendable
Bendable is where it is at. I've been covering the potential of bendable and stretchable mobile devices for a few years. I'm convinced that when we had a phone we can scrunch up into our pocketets or stretch out like a newspaper and never break or tear it, I will be able to jsut quit there. I won't need a new computer or implants or the latest thing. That will good enough to declare myself an old man and not learn about any new technology. :)
David Wagner, User Rank: Strategist 2/27/2015 | 11:42:51 PM
Large Screens
So the large screens confuse me though. Because it seems like large screens would compete with their holograms. Do they see large screens as the bridge to holograms or do they see them as living side by side with them? Because ot me, once i have holograms, the only time I need screens are when I don't feel like weairn ghte helmet.
This is an interesting article. As you said its going to be the future. Mobile devices are be coming more famous now. At the same time with the smartphone technologies people will be able to attend for their things fast.
To add to your comment, the level of adoption that smartphones and tablets has achieved is mainly having everyone embrace technology.
I mean think about.... today we see people wait in line for days for the latest iteration of an Ipad/Iphone/Samsung phone.... before this would only occur either for a concert or blackfriday deals...consumers want technology, even though they probably don't understand it's intrincacies, but don't really need to.
Technology is both satisfaying and creating needs, and business have strategies heavily reliant on them. This was not the case less then 10 years ago.
@Ashu001 – I always prefer devices with large displays but such devices in the market today consume much power than an ordinary smartphone. This is one reason why I feel an ordinary mobile phone would help you do the basics.
@Ashu001- I think it's high time for smartphone manufacturers to come up with extended power. Quad core and Octa Core processors are draining the battery much quicker.
It was the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, which had a curved edge that would behave as a separate/complementary display.
The fact that it didn't caused much buzzed aside from making some headlines is a good indicator that it wasn't well received, mostly because it had a priced tag that would rival most high end consumer tablets/laptops.
I'm not sure if this was more of an experiment, or a really bad hit or miss. Google is known for providing experimental products (the google glass being a well known one), so not sure if this was the same thing for samsung.
But we have to admit that the concept of having a separate yet embedded display to allow for additional functionality is a pretty cool concept, but guess will need to wait and see who's able to really deliver it
@mejiac – Consumers didn't embrace Note Edge as they expected, mostly because of the high price range. Smartphone industry is very competitive and consumers expect the prices to be competitive too.
Smartphone manufacture should consider to have an eco-system established instead of relying on hardware/software selling. They should think about how to form a closed-loop ecosystem. The profit should be obtained by user stickness instead of selling hardware/OS in one-go.
@Ashu001 - I remember it as LG who came up with flexible led screens. LG came up with LG Flex smartphone with a curved screen. The prices were quite high at the initial stager but eventually we will see prices going down.
David Wagner, User Rank: Strategist 3/2/2015 | 3:51:20 PM
Re: Bendable
@ashu001- Several companies are working on it. It won't be long now. I'm guessing 5 years until we see one and 10 until we all have one. 15 ot 20 until they're full color and perfect though.
David Wagner, User Rank: Strategist 3/23/2015 | 5:53:32 PM
Re: Bendable
@ashu001- I think the problem isn't making one, but learning how to do it at an affordable cost. That seems to be the harder part. Seems like getting the cost down is always the longer and harder part of consumer tech.
David Wagner, User Rank: Strategist 3/30/2015 | 1:49:15 PM
Re: Bendable
@ashu001- Well, scale obviously only works with products with mass appeal for a long time. I think it would work with a foldable phone, but it is possible most people wouldn't see the value. I don't know. The disadvantage to a foldable phone is that it is probably much easier to lose. Maybe that would be too big a problem to overcome.
Bendable technoogy will definitly open the same level of doors and paths (if not more) as tablets and smartphone have. Not sure because of the availability of the technolgoy, but it's potential use.
I'm sure some of you remember the Discovery Channel show "Beyond 2000", where they showed case technology that is the common place of today.
Microsoft's previous video about how the future would be was also "fututuristic" when it came out the first time, only now some of the concepts it presented are ocurring today (with today's tablets and smartphoen and the array of apps are in the center)
How far are we from the video are we? Honestly...a couple of years... from at least seing the first versions of the technollogy shown. We're already seeing curved displayes, so getting to flexible screens is not that far ahead.
Today's technology is progressing at a rate much much faster than say 20 years ago, and I think the main cause of such pace is because of our ability to community at a global scale in an instant. A person can post a video of a discovery which will be viewed in a matter of seconds by many around the world, only to provide another idea to someone else.
None of this in article or what you guys are discussing is what I think of when I think productivity. I thought that meant efficiently getting work done? I'm not even clear anymore in this new world what qualifies as work anymore?
I create business systems by writing, testing and deploying code. If any of you can tell me how any of this makes me more productive, please enlighten me. Even in my consumer mode of raising family and having as much fun as life can offer, I struggle to see how this improves things over what we have now.
For example, mobile phone map/navigation is a light year productivity improvement over pulling to side of road and unfolding the old paper map to plot your course. But does what MS talking about here elevate that with curved screens and holograms? I think we are talking very niche stuff here.
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