Microsoft Surface and AI Event 2023: Here are key announcements
US tech giant Microsoft held its Surface and AI Event 2023, today in New York. From a bevy of Surface devices, including the Surface Laptop Studio 2 to an AI push for the Windows OS via the Copilot, a lot was in store for tech enthusiasts. Let us take a look at the key announcements at the event.
Copilot is Microsoft's newest AI companion
Microsoft announced the Copilot today, describing it as "our vision of an everyday AI companion for you." It is being built into several products, such as Bing, Edge, and the "newest version of Windows." It will be available starting September 26. Simply right-click or use your voice to activate it. The Copilot will reside in the taskbar and open in a side panel.
Copilot can connect with smartphones
A new Windows update titled 23H2 is coming on September 26. It will boast AI-backed photo tools, an updated Microsoft Paint, a new Outlook, and passkey support. Ink Anywhere is a new facility that allows users to write anywhere using the Surface Pen. Separately, Copilot works across devices, can summarize content, solve complex math problems, compose texts, and also connect with smartphones.
Bing Image Creator will soon run on DALL-E 3
Microsoft is giving its Bing Image Creator an update. The company claims it will soon upgrade to the new DALL-E model (DALL-3), to make the feature more powerful. Meanwhile, Bing Chat Enterprise is now coming in Edge's mobile version. Users can search with images here, and also create new pictures.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is coming on November 1
Microsoft 365 Copilot is coming to enterprise customers starting November 1. It will boast a new "hero experience." It can pull transcripts from a meeting the user missed, and summarize their entire inbox. Users can even point Copilot toward a particular file, and order it to create a blog post using the data within. The more you use it, "the more natural it becomes."
Copilot is now in preview
Outlook is getting a facility called "sound like me." Using it, Copilot will change to match your writing style, including how you sign off your emails. Users can also change the style based on their requirements. Note, that the Microsoft Designer app has DALL-E 3 built in. Microsoft 365 Copilot is now in preview with "a select group of consumers and small businesses."
Surface Laptop Go 3 promises a 15-hr battery life
The Surface Laptop Go 3 is available in four colors (green, blue, silver, and teal) and boasts a headphone jack. It promises a 12.4-inch touchscreen, a fingerprint-embedded power button, and 15 hours of battery life. The lightweight device is claimed to be 88% faster than its predecessor, and its price starts at $799.
Surface Studio 2 starts at $1,999
The Surface Laptop Studio 2 boasts 64GB of RAM, up to 2TB of storage, an NVIDIA RTX 4050/4060 graphics card, and a 13th-generation Intel Core i7 chip. There's also a microSD card reader. The company's "most powerful Surface ever built" has a 14.4-inch screen, a haptic touchpad, and a magnetically attachable Surface Slim Pen 2. The touchpad can be converted to a two-button mouse.
