Microsoft presents Surface Hub 2 and its rotating display

Microsoft presents its Surface Hub 2 hardware for the first time today. The software publisher used a Surface Hub 2 during a conference at the Microsoft Ignite conference. This is the first time we've seen Surface Hub 2 in public, and more importantly, the first time we've seen Microsoft reveal some of the software that will power them. Microsoft's demonstration was to rotate the 50-inch screen to display smooth animations that allowed content to move around the screen.

This is a new effort by Windows Core OS (WCOS) within Microsoft to modularize its operating system to function as smart modes on smart hardware. Microsoft has been working on WCOS and its Composable Shell (C-Shell) for years and both of these efforts will allow Windows to run on new hardware. Surface Hub 2 is a good example of this new type of hardware, alongside Microsoft's Surface "pocket" device, named Andromeda.

Today's demo also showed how Surface Hub 2 will handle multiple users with a fingerprint sensor. The reader is mounted at the bottom of the device and several users can use it to scan their fingers and connect to Surface Hub 2. The recent files are then displayed on the screen to allow the collaboration of several documents on several accounts.

Microsoft also revealed today that the company had modified its Surface Hub 2 hardware. A new Surface Hub 2S will be launched next year with 4K cameras and edge-to-edge display, but the impressive rotation and the new software will not arrive until 2020. Microsoft plans to update its software in 2020, dubbed Surface Hub 2X, which will use a special processor cartridge on the back of the device to upgrade the hardware and software . Microsoft has not provided an exact release date for Surface Hub 2 or pricing, but the company says the hardware will be released in the second quarter of 2019.