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Microsoft rides wave of hot Surface sales into the holidays

Can a CEO President get along with today’s tech CEOs?

With the Trump presidency now just weeks away, The Donald has scheduled a meeting with techs heaviest hitters for this Wednesday at the Manhattan white house, better known as Trump Tower. The guest list impressive – Tim Cook from Apple, Cheryl Sandberg from Facebook, Larry Page from Google – among many others, but it’s also conspicuous in light of a list of who may give the meeting a pass.

So far, that list includes Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Shark Tanker and Hillary cheerleader Mark Cuban, and H/P boss Meg Whitman: a well-known Republican who compared Trump to Hitler during the campaign. So, what will those who attend chat about? According to Recode, Oracle CEO Safra Catz said that reforming the tax code, reducing regulation, and trade deals will likely be on the agenda.

Tech appeal that goes deeper than the Surface

Microsoft says sales their Surface line of computers is giving the company its “best holiday ever,” with November sales setting records for consumer sales of the touchscreen Surface tablets and the new Studio desktop PC. Redmond also said that sales of the mega-touchscreen Surface Hub are humming along as well, and they couldn’t resist getting a dig in at competitor Apple, adding that more people are switching from MacBooks “than ever before.”

They’ve even introduced a “try-before-you-buy” program for the giant Hub, which is aimed primarily at businesses looking to invest in large batches of the devices at one time. Microsoft said a major carmaker even bought 1,500 Hub units. We’ve got reviews of both the latest Surface Book and the new Surface Studio, so hit the links to check those out.

A snapshot of digital photo history – and its future

Hey, take any photos lately? Of course you have, but probably not with one of these, or even one of these. Why? Because of smartphones, of course. And while you can still buy cameras that will do more than your cell phone, let’s just say the camera industry is a shadow of its former self. So where do camera makers go from here? That’s exactly the question DT Photo tech editor Les Shu address in his in-depth look at the recent history – and the near future – of photography.

From the first digital camera that this guy invented while at Kodak to the latest tech with incredible abilities like post-shot focusing and amazing low-light performance, Les takes stock of the state of photography today, and offers a glimpse of where it’s headed in the near future. If you have even the slightest interest in photography, this is must-read stuff, so hit this link to get started.

Bill Roberson
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I focus on producing Digital Trends' 'DT Daily' video news program along with photographing items we get in for review. I…
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