Skip to main content

Microsoft doubles down on 84-inch Surface Hub with a guided tour of its internals

An engineer's tour of the hardware and design of Microsoft Surface Hub
In the wake of the Surface Studio’s reception, Microsoft has doubled down on its support for the enterprise-facing Surface Hub — the massive 84-inch digital whiteboard. First, we saw details of a try-and-buy program for the Surface Hub and today, Microsoft has unveiled an “engineer’s tour” of the Surface Hub, guided by engineering director Peter Oehler.

Let’s be honest — the Surface Hub isn’t exactly the kind of thing you’d pick up at Best Buy and hang in your living room. The 84-inch digital whiteboard starts at $22,000, with a smaller 55-inch model available for only $9,000. This is absolutely a business-oriented product, and that’s reflected in Microsoft’s sales pitch.

Related Videos

The Surface Hub itself features more than just a gigantic touchscreen. It’s designed from the bottom up to be a productivity tool, the kind of thing you’d hang in a conference room and use to guide company-wide meetings — rather than a single workstation.

Engineering director Peter Oehler illustrates Microsoft’s strategy to push the Surface Hub to business customers in his “engineer’s tour.” He goes on to describe the impressive engineering behind the Surface Hub, as well as offer a few brief examples of how it could improve a workplace.

The Hub is chock-full of sensors, including not only an enormous array of multi-touch sensors, but also a set of infrared cameras that can detect when someone approaches the device. Featuring two HD cameras, and a series of microphones, the Hub also doubles as a teleconferencing platform, allowing users to share their screen while teleconferencing.

While it may be prohibitively expensive for many workplaces, Microsoft has made an effort to soften that particular financial blow with its try-and-buy program, and by some accounts it seems to be working. According to On MSFT, Microsoft is ramping up production to meet increased demand from business customers.

Editors' Recommendations

Dough (formerly Eve) now has its own 27-inch 240Hz OLED gaming monitor
The new Dough Glossy OLED Gaming Monitor on a white table.

The technology brand Dough (formerly known as Eve) is introducing the Spectrum ES07E2D on Monday as its very first OLED gaming monitor.

Following the lead of LG, this Spectrum gaming monitor will soon become one of the first 27-inch OLED gaming monitors available, having previously only been available in much larger sizes.

Read more
How to use the new communities feature in Microsoft Teams
The Microsoft Teams Communities features is now available for Microsoft 365 Personal and Family.

Microsoft has announced a new communities feature for its free Microsoft Teams communication platform that is intended for personal use rather than exclusively for large businesses.

The communities feature is available for Microsoft 365 Personal and Family and Teams Essentials accounts and allows users to easily organize, share, communicate, and collaborate in a hybrid manner. The feature allows you to not only connect online directly, but also to prepare for in-person meetings.

Read more
The most common Microsoft Teams problems, and how to fix them
A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Microsoft Teams was introduced in 2017 as a unified communication and collaboration platform, helping businesses and organizations get things done. Microsoft leveraged the company's existing Office software experience and created a unified experience between Teams, Office 365, and Skype for Business. However, as with all software, things don't always go according to plan. If you're having Microsoft Teams issues, here's how to fix some of the most common problems.

Do you use Zoom too? If you ever run into any Zoom problems, there are ways to fix them too.

Read more