Microsoft Windows Collaboration Displays Announced at Computex 2018

At Computex 2018, Microsoft has announced Windows Collaboration Displays. These displays are somewhat similar to the company's Surface Hub digital whiteboard offering, but this time the hardware will be made by other manufacturers. Plus, these are large displays that you can control from your small screens, and are equipped with additional features and AI mechanisms that make them an ideal addition to conference rooms.

These Windows Collaboration Displays were demoed at Computex by Nick Parker, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Consumer and Device Sales, and Roanne Sones, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Platforms. The demo device was a large 70-inch Windows Collaboration Display from Sharp, and it was integrated with Microsoft 365 collaboration tools like Office, Teams, and Whiteboard at room scale, and included built-in sensors that can connect to Azure IoT spatial intelligence capabilities. This will let you collect environmental data to make real-time decisions.

The Windows Collaboration Display will also come with stylus support, stereo speakers, far-field microphone system, and a Web camera put on top of the display for proper remote collaboration, and conferencing needs. Microsoft has confirmed that Sharp and Avocor are coming out with their own Windows Collaboration Displays sometime later this year. The company also promised that these displays will be priced reasonably, but exact availability and pricing has not been announced yet.

While it's branching out with its conference room display offerings, the company is not giving up on Surface Hub at all. In fact, the company recently unveiled the Surface Hub 2 with a 50.5-inch display that has 4K+ resolution, 3:2 aspect ratio, and minimal bezels. Interestingly, the screen can now rotate to a portrait position. It will be available for purchase in 2019, and the pricing for this product has also not been announced.