News
Microsoft's Surface Hub To Ship in Fall with $7K Minimum Price Tag
- By Gladys Rama
- June 10, 2015
The Surface Hub, Microsoft's large-screen interactive conferencing technology that was first unveiled in January, will begin shipping in September, Microsoft said on Wednesday.
The product will come in two sizes. The 55-inch Surface Hub will retail for $6,999, while the 84-inch version will cost $19,999. Pre-orders for both will start on July 1 through authorized Microsoft resellers and distributors, including Ingram Micro, Tech Data and Synnex. A full list of participating partners is available here.
Besides the United States, the Surface Hub will initially be available in 23 other markets: Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
The Surface Hub is Microsoft's touch-based collaboration device that uses technology acquired from its 2012 acquisition of Perceptive Pixel. Users can use it as a digital whiteboard and as a video-conferencing tool. The devices come with two Surface pens and Microsoft's Office suite (Word, PowerPoint and Excel), as well as OneNote and Skype. The devices also run Windows 10 out of the box, so users will be able to take advantage of Universal Windows apps from Microsoft's app store, as well as receive security and software updates from Microsoft.
The 55-inch model weighs 105 pounds, runs on a fourth-generation Intel Core i5 processor, and uses an Intel HD 4600 graphics card. The 84-inch model weighs 280 pounds, runs on a fourth-generation Intel Core i7 processor, and uses an NVIDIA Quadro K2200 graphics card.
Both versions have a 128GB SSD with 8GB of RAM, a 100-point multitouch display, two front-facing stereos, two wide-angle HD cameras, and built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities.
"While there are a number of devices designed to improve our productivity as individuals, there has yet to be a device that is truly optimized for a group of people to use together -- designed not just for what we need to do, but how we want to work. Until now," said Mike Angiulo, corporate vice president of Microsoft Devices, in a prepared statement. "Just as the PC revolutionized productivity for individuals, Surface Hub will transform the way groups of people work together."