Microsoft’s long-awaited Windows 10 event took place in New York City today and our very own Kevin Alexander was able to attend. Well, while there wasn’t much news in the Xbox One department apart from the fact that Beam was coming to Xbox One next year and that Dolby Atmos would make its way to the console too, there was plenty of other goodness. Below are the main highlights you need to know.
• Windows 10: Next version of Windows 10 is the Creators Update. It allows you to create a lot of content with updated programs like Paint and PowerPoint.
• 3D Creator: Scan something to a 3D picture, scan a 3D image into your phone and be able to save it in 3D, any phone. Will be able to scan images into Paint 3D, do it with the Microsoft pen, can adjust depth. Remix3d.com lets you export things from Minecraft. Create and share memories in 3D.
• 3D PowerPoint: Rotate things to find the perfect angles for pictures. Allows for new levels of creativity.
• Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: New headsets are coming which start at $300. Hopefully they’ll work with Xbox Scorpio when it launches next year.
• 4K Gaming and Broadcasting: The main focus of Windows 10 when it comes to gaming is now 4K and broadcasting. That’s why Beam will be built right into Windows 10. Twitch has some serious competition.
• Gaming: Xbox and Windows 10 got three major announcements: Game broadcasting is important and Minecraft was watched 50 billion times this year. Beam can alert your gaming club and you can tune in from any device. Custom Tournaments with Arena are also coming. As mention earlier, Dolby Atmos is coming to Xbox One. Xbox is the best place for 4K and broadcasting.
• HoloLens: Import your 3D images to HoloLens like 3D imaging for furniture. HoloLens also allows you to travel virtually and explore new places.
• People: A growing network of people needs faster ways to connect with people. Now you can pin people to the task bar. Faster sharing is also enabled and allows Skype drag and drop. Integrated Xbox Live, Skype, Outlook, allows for better communication. All of this coming to Windows Insiders this week.
• Surface Book Upgrade: The new device has sixteen hours battery life, twice as powerful than previous Surface i7 and three times more powerful than MacBook. It’s the most powerful laptop aside from dedicated gaming devices.
• Surface Studio: New iMac-like desktop computer made for creators. It’s quite expensive as it starts at $3,000.
Kevin was a community contributor to ICXM, writing 2 articles in 2016–2017 covering game reviews, and Xbox news. ICXM operated as an independent Xbox and Windows gaming outlet through the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative, drawing from a rotating bench of editorial volunteers. They post on X as @K_Alex1.