Everything Announced at Microsoft’s 2019 Surface Event
Microsoft held its 2019 Surface event and revealed a ton of new products, including the foldable Microsoft Surface Neo tablet and Microsoft Surface Duo phone, a premium high-end version of the Microsoft Surface Pro, and much more.
We've gathered everything announced today at Microsoft's big event below. Enjoy!
Microsoft Surface Neo
Microsoft announced the Microsoft Surface Neo, a dual-screen foldable tablet that features two 9-inch screens connected by a 360-degree hinge. These are unlike devices such as the Samsung's Galaxy Fold which have foldable screens, but are instead two screens working in tandem together.
Zombieland 2 Director on the Challenge of Topping the Original
Some SPOILERS follow for Zombieland: Double Tap.
For director Ruben Fleischer and his fellow creatives, the most nerve-wracking thing about wrangling the Zombieland gang back together for the upcoming Zombieland: Double Tap was whether or not they could match let alone top the 2009 original. Fleischer has found solace in the reactions to the film coming out of early test screenings.
“The responses were fantastic,” Fleischer told the press during a recent edit bay visit on the Sony Pictures lot. “The thing that's most gratifying to me is one of the questions we asked people was how this compares to the original. I don't want to blow too much smoke up my own ass but overwhelmingly, like 90 percent of people said it was as good if not better than the original.”
Death on the Nile Cast Adds Wonder Woman and Shuri Actresses
Kenneth Branagh is returning to direct and star as renowned detective Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile, the sequel to 2017's Murder on the Orient Express, alongside a whole new cast of suspects.
Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman herself, was attached to the project last year, however, 20th Century Fox has now unmasked the remainder of the star-studded line-up, which includes famous faces from Black Panther and Game of Thrones.
Microsoft Dual-Screen Surface Neo Is Coming Next Holiday
Microsoft has been long rumored to introduce a dual-screen device and now we finally know its the Surface Neo. The Redmond-based company introduced the dual-screen tablet well ahead of its 2020 holiday release date at its press conference in New York City.
The headlining feature of the Surface Neo is of course is it's two 5.6mm thin screens. However unlike true foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Fold or Huawei Mate X, the Neo doesn't feature a contiguous display that spans across both sides of the device. Rather the device has two separate screens separated by a hinge.
That's a little less impressive than I was hoping for but this makes the device a bit more flexible as the hinge can rotate around a full 360-degrees. Without the foldable screen it also folds into one compact booklet that only weighs 655 grams.
Microsoft Announces the Ultra-Thin and Powerful Surface Pro X
While it's not the dual-screen device we anticipated Microsoft would announce, the company surprised us with a premium version of the Surface Pro.
Meet the Surface Pro X, Microsoft's thinnest Windows tablet yet measuring just 5.3mm and it weighs just 1.68 pounds. It also features a whole new mobile processor Microsoft calls the Microsoft SQ1 processor.
We don't know exactly what's in this processor, but Panos Panay described it as containinng Snapdragon mobile DNA—so ARM—alongside an integrated AI accelerator. This SQ1 processor only draws a little more than 7W of power, so it's more power efficient than the regular Surface Pro. According to Microsoft, the Surface Pro X should be three times more performant per watt than the Surface Pro 6.
Rocket League Dev Announce Replacements for Loot Boxes
Rocket League developer Psyonix has announced its replacement for random loot boxes. The RNG system that has been the basis of the game’s cosmetics and microtransactions will be replaced by blueprints later this year.
Announced on the Rocket League blog, crates will be replaced in December by blueprints. As with crates, after playing a match there is the chance that you will be awarded a blueprint. But rather than having unseen contents, a blueprint will tell you exactly what it can make.
To build a blueprint you’ll need to spend credits, a premium in-game currency bought with real cash. In a way, credits work as a direct replacement for keys. But whereas keys were purchased to unlock crates with unknown contents, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting from blueprints. Essentially, the risk is eliminated from the purchase, although a purchase is still required.
The Surface Pro 7 Finally Gets USB-C
Microsoft has just unveiled its latest flagship Windows Tablet, the Surface Pro 7, at its press conference in New York City.
Like the previous Surface Pro 6, this new tablet comes in black and silver and it now has USB-C. And that's it for specs apparently, we'll update this post once we hear more from Microsoft.
Demonstrating the new Surface Pro 7, Microsoft demoed Edge and how you can use the Collections feature to organize a hike just using the Surface Pen and inputing voice commands more intuitively than ever. Microsoft also demoed a new feature for its Your Phone app that allows you to answer Android phone calls from your desktop.
The previous Surface Pro 6 was announced exactly last year to this date on October 2, 2018. Last time around Microsoft introduced a subtly upgraded model with a new black paint scheme, redesigned passive cooling system, and 8th Generation Intel processors.
15-inch Surface Laptop 3 Announced
Microsoft has just announced new Surface Laptop 3 that not only includes an update on its 13-inch model, but also adds a whole new 15-inch variant.
Surface Laptop 3 comes in 15 and 13.5-inch variants, made of machined aluminum and a 20-percent larger trackpad than the previous model. The new Surface Laptop 3 comes with Intel 10th gen or special Microsoft Surface-edition AMD Ryzen processors.
The new Surface includes a PixelSense display with touch, as well as available AMD Radeon RX graphics.
Microsoft says the Surface 3 is twice as fast as the previous version, and claims it's three times more powerful than the most recent MacBook Air.
Meet the New Mutant Leaders of the X-Men
House of X #6 officially wraps up one half of Marvel's two-pronged relaunch of the X-Men. In the process, it solidifies a brand new status quo for the X-Men, one that unites all mutants under no fewer than twelve leaders. The days of Professor X being the big X-Man on campus are over.
Read on to find out which mutant heroes and villains are now officially in charge of the X-Men, but beware of spoilers ahead!
The 12 Leaders of the X-Men
The House of X finale changes the dynamic of the X-Men in a big way. Rather than being led by a singular figure like Professor X or Cyclops, the mutants of Krakoa are ruled by a council of 12 mutants. And while the number 12 has some rather negative connotations for X-Men readers, this isn't shaping up to be a rehash of the critically panned Apocalypse: The Twelve crossover. We think, anyway.
Saints & Sinners Might Be the First Good WD Game Since Telltale Died
I've yet to play a game set in The Walking Dead universe that I liked that wasn't made by Telltale. But they're dead now (sort of), and so the wait for the next great Walking Dead video game begins. After playing The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, however, it's possible the wait will be a short one.
Saints & Sinners, out January 23, 2020 for PC VR platforms, has a pretty obvious first-person setup. The Oculus Touch controllers are your hands, and with them you can stab, shoot, beat, grab, or push zombies. I've played plenty of VR games like this, and while there's nothing inherently wrong with the formula, its entertainment value doesn't last long.