Microsoft wants to start a Surface Dial revolution
If we were to go by what we see, we could say that Microsoft is on a fast track to give Apple a run for its money, when it comes to making innovative products. For almost a decade, anything made of silvery, brushed, beautiful machined aluminum, was typically expected to carry an Apple logo, especially when a device is ultra-thin, ultra-light, and continuously pushes the boundaries of what a tiny, flat piece of hardware can do.
Now, it seems, times are changing fast, as Microsoft has not only created a unique, beautiful and insanely powerful desktop PC with the looks of an iMac and the capabilities of a 28 inch iPad Pro, it also created an additional accessory, the Surface Dial, which allows users to keep both hands on the touchscreen, when using advanced applications like Photoshop, Autodesk SketchBook, and even AutoCAD.
The device, cleverly disguised as a stylish touch-enabled hockey puck, and equipped with haptic feedback, allows to access settings typically buried deep within a graphical interface, which considerably speeds up the workflow.
The Surface Dial is indeed the perfect companion for a Surface Pen, or any other stylus. Best of all, it is supported ac ross the entire line of Surface tablets and touchscreen PCs like the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book.
What’s more interesting, is that Microsoft seems to be determined to allow third party PC makers to create their own Surface Dials, as Terry Myerson disclosed with The Verge the morning after Microsoft’s keynote, and not even an hour prior to Apple’s own event in San Francisco:
“We put a lot of R&D into creating these. We're going to try lots of ideas, and we're going to develop some of them and get really serious about them, but then all of this technology is available to our partners. I look forward to them taking the pieces of it and creating their own expression for their own customers.”
This is a rather typical stance for Microsoft, as the company has consistently encouraged partner manufacturers like Dell, Lenovo and HP, to create their own versions of its latest innovative products like Microsoft HoloLens. If this trend catches on with third-party manufacturers, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think that similar devices and compatible touchscreen PCs will become common place, not only with creative users, but anyone who may be aleady contemplating the usefulness of an on-screen hardware device like the Surface Dial.
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