Microsoft Reveals New Band 2, Lumia Phones, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book

At a media event today, Microsoft announced a handful of new products and several updates to existing products coming from the company in 2015 and beyond. Topics for today's event included the Microsoft Band 2, Lumia 950 and 950 XL smartphones, Microsoft Surface Pro 4, and the all-new Surface Book.

The company started off by going into detail about the Microsoft Band 2, the second version of last year's wearable device. Microsoft said it took in a great amount of customer feedback in designing and implementing the new Band, which includes a new curved screen with durable Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and an improved touch display. New Cortana integration lets users speak to the Band in order to send texts and make reminders, and the device also includes a barometer that measures elevation for everything from hiking to climbing stairs.


The company's Microsoft Health app fuels the Band and lets users dig deeply into the data on everything from calorie burns to estimated recovery time for particularly intense workouts. The Band even includes an extensive golf measurement feature that can interpret the stroke of a swing and includes a score card that the company says is like "having your own personal caddy" on your wrist. Third-party partnerships with companies like Uber and Facebook are also incoming for the Microsoft Band 2, which will be available on October 30 for $249.

Microsoft then announced the Lumia 950 and 950 XL which are the newest iterations of the Lumia smartphone line, with 5.2-inch and 5.5-inch displays, respectively. Each of the new phones include a new feature called Glance Screen which showcases important pieces of information when a user pulls the phone out of his or her pocket, without the need to interact with the device directly and without using battery life. The Lumia 950 line also includes a 20-megapixel camera, Triple LED RGB natural flash, optical image stabilization, and a dedicated camera button on the side of the phone.

Lumia-950-and-950-XL
The 32GB 950 and 950 XL also comes with a USB Type-C connector that Microsoft promises can charge the devices up to 50 percent within a span of 30 minutes. The company continued by showcasing a brief beta demo of a face-recognition feature that unlocks the Lumia devices by simply holding them up to your face, similar to Microsoft's hands-off sign-in feature introduced on the Xbox One in 2013. It then provided a brief demo of the Microsoft Display Dock, which connects a Windows Phone to a PC for the two devices to work in unison to manipulate documents and manage user data.

Next, the company covered the Microsoft Surface Pro 4, which it claims is the "thinnest, most powerful Core PC" shipped to date. The device comes with a 12.3-inch display, but the overall footprint of the device hasn't grown any bigger, thanks to a reduction in the size of the bezels. The display includes a 0.4 mm-thin Gorilla Glass cover and the Surface Pro 4 will come with a new Surface Pen with 1,024 points of pressure and an eraser on the tip that also activates Cortana on the tablet when held down.


Overall, the Surface Pro 4 is 30 percent faster than the Surface Pro 3 and 50 percent faster than the MacBook Air, with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The company says it compromised "nothing" in the new iteration, maintaining a thin body while offering significantly better performance. Microsoft also introduced a new Type Cover, with a larger trackpad, backlit keyboard, and an integrated fingerprint reader for users on the older Surface Pro 3 who don't have the camera authentication of Microsoft Hello on the Surface Pro 4. The Surface Pro 4 will be available on October 26, starting at $899.

Lastly, the company introduced the Surface Book, "the first laptop ever built by Microsoft." The new laptop includes a 13.5-inch PixelSense screen with 6 million pixels and supported Microsoft Pen and touch screen capabilities. The Surface Book offers 12 hours of battery life with an Nvidia GeForce GPU and high-speed GDDR5 memory, and the company calls the Surface Book "the fastest laptop ever made, anywhere, on any planet."


When comparing the Surface Book directly with the MacBook Pro, Microsoft stated that its new laptop is two times faster than Apple's device. The Surface Book will also let customers remove the screen, turning it into a temporary Surface Pro 4-esque tablet. The Surface Book is priced at $1,499 and will launch on October 26, along with the Surface Pro 4. The new Lumia 950 and 950 XL, Microsoft Band 2, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book will also be available for customers to pre-order beginning tomorrow, October 7.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 8 New Features

Thursday January 9, 2025 5:45 am PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of January 2025: More aluminum: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models ...
airpods pro 2 botw

Hearing a Mysterious Chime From Your AirPods Pro Case? It's a Feature

Thursday January 9, 2025 3:42 pm PST by
If you've been hearing a chiming sound from your AirPods Pro 2 case when the AirPods are charging, it's a feature that Apple added with the launch of Hearing Health last year. In a support guide, Apple says that the AirPods Pro may play a sound every so often while in the case to ensure the microphones and speakers are working as intended. From Apple: To help ensure that your AirPods...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal 1

iPhone 17 Pro Main Camera Sensor 'Smaller' Than iPhone 16 Pro Sensor

Friday January 10, 2025 3:14 am PST by
This year's iPhone 17 Pro models will feature a smaller main camera sensor than the one used in the Fusion camera currently found in iPhone 16 Pro models, according to Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station. The Chinese leaker claims that Apple will adopt a 1/1.3" sensor for the 48MP main camera in the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, down from the 1/1.28" sensor used in the iPhone 16...
se 4 for 2025

When to Expect the iPhone SE 4 or So-Called 'iPhone 16E' to Launch

Friday January 10, 2025 9:20 am PST by
Apple is widely rumored to be planning a new iPhone SE, and multiple sources lately have commented on the device's launch timing. The latest word comes from Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a blog post today, he said the device will be released around the middle of the first half of 2025. In other words, around the quarter mark of 2025. That means the next iPhone SE will likely be ...
AppleEventLogoFeature

Apple Focusing on These Eight New Low-Cost Devices in 2025

Saturday January 11, 2025 1:00 am PST by
Apple's slate of 2025 products look to be dominated by a large number of low-cost and entry-level devices. Here's what to expect. With advancements like Apple Intelligence and all-new in-house chip designs, Apple is reportedly looking to enhance many of its budget-friendly offerings, ensuring they remain competitive in an increasingly crowded market. These updates also indicate a slight...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Launching This Year With One Thing in Common

Wednesday January 8, 2025 6:18 am PST by
It was recently reported that new Apple TV and new HomePod mini models will launch this year, and the devices are expected to have one thing in common. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last month reported that the new Apple TV and the new HomePod mini will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip. Gurman said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, so that could end up being a key upgrade...
apple intelligence black

Apple Intelligence Isn't Driving iPhone Upgrades

Friday January 10, 2025 2:17 pm PST by
Apple Intelligence hasn't convinced people to buy an iPhone 16, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. According to Kuo, a supply chain survey suggests Apple Intelligence is not pushing people to upgrade their devices. The delay between the Apple Intelligence introduction in June 2024 and a launch even after iPhone 16 models came out was a contributing factor, and Apple Intelligence "appeal...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

5 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's MacBook Pro

Wednesday January 8, 2025 6:33 am PST by
Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small...
apple pay feature dynamic island

Apple Pay Now Lets You Pay Later With Synchrony [Updated]

Friday January 10, 2025 11:34 am PST by
Synchrony is now available as a buy-now, pay-later option when checking out with Apple Pay online and in apps on iPhone and iPad. Synchrony was added to a list of Apple Pay installment providers in the U.S. in an Apple support document that was updated today, joining Affirm and Klarna. The addition was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 users can select...

Top Rated Comments

mellomike Avatar
121 months ago
The Surface Book looks great, only problem is... it runs Windows..
Score: 63 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iLoveiTunes Avatar
121 months ago
Wow... Impressive stuff Microsoft.
Kudos !
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sunapple Avatar
121 months ago
Surface Book is the device that can push Apple to the land of hybrids. This is the future.
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The Robot Cow Avatar
121 months ago
I'm really impressed with the Surface Pro 4. I'm even considering selling my Air 2 to get one. It seems to do things out of the box what i wish my iPad did.
Good job Microsoft.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tubamajuba Avatar
121 months ago
I love my MacBook, but I also love that Microsoft is helping to push laptops forward- it's not just good competition for Apple; it's good competition for HP, Dell, Lenovo, and other PC manufacturers as well.

Microsoft introduced some fantastic hardware today!
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thekeyring Avatar
121 months ago
Far more interesting than the two Nexus phones Google announced.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)