At its reveal event in New York yesterday, Microsoft introduced the Surface Studio, its first desktop computer under the Surface brand. Basically it’s a very large Surface Pro or Surface Book (with a 28″ high-resolution display), made in such a way to enable “creative professionals” to draw and create … plus do everything else you can do on a desktop with a large display. The Surface Dial adds a new way of interacting with application controls – e.g., when drawing it can control colour and brush width/type.

What I’m wondering about though, is whether the Surface Studio can provide an answer for individuals or small groups (2-3) joining an online meeting where one of the meeting rooms has a Surface Hub – the 55″ or 84″ version. While you can do screen sharing already from a Surface Hub to a Surface Pro or Book, there’s quite a difference in physical screen size between the two ends. And yes, you could connect an external display to the Pro or Book, but the Surface Studio would give quite a large touch-capable display that would make such a meeting a whole lot more natural.

Interesting. I look forward to seeing where this goes, and how the Surface Dial can be utilised in other applications – like Skype for Business and OneNote.