Microsoft makes a laptop — and US media drools

Microsoft seems to have its mojo back, if US media reaction at its Windows 10 devices event in New York is anything to go by (watch a replay here).

There were drools over Microsoft’s first laptop, the Surface Book, whose silver case and giant trackpad echoes a Mac Book Pro – only it costs more (see the Wall Street Journal’s hands-on reviews here). If you hit an eject key, the display snaps off to transform into a standalone tablet. Lots of two-in-one Windows 10 laptops from HP, Dell, Acer, Asus, Lenovo and others can perform the same trick, but the Surface Book gets a tick for its solid engineering. The steep price (from $US1500) is probably in part a sop to Dell and other partners who will be wary of Microsoft straying further on to their hardware turf.

ABOVE: The Surface Book: It's pricey and could intimidate (or hopefully inspire) Microsoft's hardware partners. But check out that hinge in this promo clip. It is a thing of beauty. 

The futuristic HoloLens, which combines virtual reality and enhanced reality (holograms over-laid on your real-life vision though a lens), also got another preview. The latest is that Microsoft has now opened a programme for developers to create HoloLens apps. Micosoft's own Minecraft (pictured below) is already in the lineup.

ABOVE: HoloLens apps for work and play

On the entertainment front, a revamped Xbox One interface was previewed. There will be tighter integration with Windows 10, a new controller, and big boost to backward compatibility with the ability to play Xbox 360 games for free.

ABOVE: The Lumia 950 and 950XL

Three new Lumia phones were also demo’d. Earlier this year, Microsoft wrote off 80% of the value of its $9.4 billion purchase of Nokia's handset business. It has now decided not to chase Apple and Android in the mass market but to instead focus on a few high-end models. The giant new Lumia 950 and 950XL drew oohs and ahhs from local Windows fanboys on Twitter but Microsoft NZ was not able to say when it would see a New Zealand release. Curious Kiwis visiting the Lumia section of Microsoft's NZ site get sent to its Aussie site. Boo.

The same for the Surface Book.

So far, the only device from yesterday’s event with a confirmed New Zealand launch time and price is the new, thinner, lighter and faster Surface Pro 4 tablet (November 12, from $1599), which like others in its line can run full-blooded Windows 10.

ABOVE: The Surface Pro 4. Microsoft's tablet has yet to make serious headway against the iPad and Android opposition but it's gone from bad reviews (Surface 1) to so-so reviews (Surface 2) to rave reviews (Surface 3).

Hopefully, more news will follow on the local front.

Microsoft also previewed the Band 2 yesterday, the latest upgrade to its fitness wearable. New Zealand never got Version 1.0. You can love or hate Apple but at least you know that as night follows day, all of its products see New Zealand releases.

ABOVE: Band 2

But State-side, where they’re getting the full-blast, Microsoft seems to be enjoying its best buzz since 1995.

'Like the old Apple'
A New Yorker profile styles new chief executive Satya Nadella as a zen-like tech guru, and says with its forthcoming iPad Pro, Apple is paying the ultimate compliment of copying the Surface. 

“Microsoft, it seems, is becoming a bit more like the old Apple, even as Apple becomes more like the old Microsoft,” the magazine says.

That’s probably over-egging it, given Microsoft’s continuing failure to gain any traction in the phone market and the lingering damage from alienating nearly everyone with its abrupt change of tack with Windows 8.

But ther is no doubt the company has its groove back. And once most of us are using Windows 10 on our desktops, those Lumias will stop looking so exotic, and Microsoft could even make gains in smartphones too. Interesting times.