We were disappointed that Microsoft was not showing the Microsoft Surface Book as the product has not been formally launched in the region. A release is expected later. In terms of client devices, the company was emphasizing the Surface Pro 4 tablet/convertible which will start shipping in mid-November. Microsoft highlighted that the Pro 4 has a 13.3″ display compared to the 13″ of the previous version, but in the same form factor. One of the ways of increasing the display:size ratio was to remove the “home” button, which occupied some of one bezel. The thickness has been reduced by 0.65mm to 8.35mm. The Pro 4 has a RealSense camera and an 8 MP camera with autofocus which has been included to make the unit better at capturing images of documents. The unit has new liquid-coupled cooling technology and is available with Core M, i5 and i7 Skylake processors.
The Surface Pro 4 has what Microsoft calls “5th generation” touch technology with new touch algorithms that can run on the internal GPU of the Skylake processors. Pixel density is 267 ppi and resolution is 2736 x 1824 (3:2 aspect ratio). The pen of the previous version is retained, but whereas previous versions used third party “loops” to attach the pen, the new one is fixed using a strong magnet. The pen has an eraser function and the tip can be changed to match different writing styles. The “chicklet” keyboard has 3mm travel which makes it more comfortable for touch typists than the previous version.
Microsoft also had a couple of areas devoted to OEM Windows 10 convertible, notebook and tablet PCs as well as showing the latest Lumia Windows phones.
