- So what's the deal with Microsoft HoloLens 2
and will Andromeda have any mixed reality capabilities?
All that and more on this week's Ask Dan,
stay tuned.
(energetic electronic music)
- Do you think Microsoft will have
some kind of unique mixed reality capabilities
built into Andromeda so that it can be
positioned as a differentiator in the market?
Well, you folks sure love your questions
on Andromeda so let's dive into this one,
and as to what we're hearing now,
I've seen some patents out there
showing, like, a holographic display.
We're not there yet, folks, I don't believe.
At least, I have seen nothing to suggest
that this thing will have a display
that will have holograms coming out of it.
As cool as that would be,
maybe another five years, I don't know,
but I'm not hearing anything about
that for this device.
And speaking of Windows Mixed Reality directly,
well, I teased some of this in the last video
and I'll come out and say it; 3D scanning.
Now, this shouldn't be that big of a surprise.
Microsoft showed it with Surface Studio
during its announcement in late 2016.
There, though, they used the Elite X3 to scan a
3D sand castle and then it goes into the device,
and that works with 3D paint.
We've never actually seen that
actually come to fruition,
but I am hearing this device actually supports that.
An accommodation for hardware,
I don't wanna talk about the hardware specifically yet.
We are hearing a couple things about the camera.
Speaking of that camera, don't expect a
Lumia 9-50 or a Lumia 10-20 rebirth here.
This will be a nice camera,
but I don't think that its' main focus,
but 3D scanning will be a part of this
and that is kind of how this works
with Windows Mixed Reality, I think.
More specifically, the idea is you can
scan an object, put it into there,
and then manipulate it and use it
that way for creating objects.
It's not necessarily for viewing Windows Mixed Reality
although, who knows, it may have
augmented reality with its camera as well.
Sort of what Google is doing with its Android stuff.
Now, another bit of rumor we're starting
to hear is in regards to HoloLens 2,
which I'll talk about a little bit later on as well.
We are hearing that this device will work
closely with HoloLens 2 and probably Surface Hub.
That is, these devices will all work together
to allow collaboration along with
Windows Mixed Reality, Inking, and more.
So we'll have to wait for Microsoft
to give some more details there,
but that's how I envision this device.
It uses a tool to help create Windows Mixed Reality,
not necessarily view Windows Mixed Reality.
Are there any rumors on the next iteration of HoloLens?
Have you heard anything through the grapevine?
Speaking of Windows Mixed Reality,
what's the deal with HoloLens 2?
Now, I hear a lot of people always say,
"Well, HoloLens is dead,"
and, "Who cares?"
But no, HoloLens is still around.
Windows Mixed Reality is definitely a thing.
We are actually hearing some cool stuff
with Windows Mixed Reality, by the way,
that's coming out,
including hopefully sharing your
Cliff House with a neighbor.
So yes, your friends can come over
and visit you and hang out virtually,
which would be really cool stuff,
but let's talk about HoloLens 2.
It is still a thing, it's still being developed.
Now, I think some of this is going
to be kind of obvious.
You can piece it together.
For instance, will it be running an
Intel Atom Processor like the last one?
Probably not.
Where is Microsoft going with all this stuff lately?
Well, Windows 10 on ORM so why not expect
a SnapDragon 845 or 850 Processor involved there?
After all, not only could you put that on there,
but now HoloLens would be mobile.
Yes, you can use it on an LTE network.
And that's their limitation right now with HoloLens;
it can only work on WiFi.
And while that's kinda cool,
having LTE on there would be even cooler.
That's even more important for people
who want to use this out in the field,
like right now there's a lot of
constructions and engineers and architecture
using HoloLens and having LTE will be a big deal.
Another thing I can tell you about HoloLens 2
is probably what version of the OS it's gonna run.
It's gonna be Windows Core OS,
specifically Oasis so that is the codename.
If that sounds a little bit familiar,
it's because we talked about Polaris before
and Andromeda so Oasis is the Windows Mixed Reality
composer for Windows Core OS,
and so that is something that we can expect.
As to what that looks like, what it all means,
well, we have to wait and see.
These composers will be coming online through 2019.
Microsoft's going through a process right now,
Andromeda's the first one, then come Polaris,
then Oasis and a few other ones as well,
including Xbox later on.
As to when to expect HoloLens 2,
I wish I could tell you,
but maybe not til 2019.
I do expect a leapfrog, though, in technology.
It should be smaller, it should be lighter.
It should get better battery life.
It should run Windows 10 on ORM.
It should have LTE and hopefully be cheaper as well.
Whether or not Microsoft now pushes it
into the consumer market remains to be seen.
I still think it'll be positioned for
more prosumer at that level,
but we've got some time to figure it out
so stay tuned.
I use my Lumia 950 primarily as a camera that
does social media, texting, and web browsing.
Should I stick with it or buy a dedicated camera instead?
Alright, so if you're a Lumia 950 user in 2017,
well, God bless you.
I don't know what else to say.
I know it's a fun device,
I like the size of it and everything,
but that processor right now kinda kills it for me.
It's quite a few generations behind,
and it gets pretty hot and it doesn't
get very good battery life.
If you're happy, though, use it.
By all means, stick with it.
There's no reason to switch.
However, in saying that, I would say
the competitor cameras have really caught up.
Whether you want Android or IOS,
I think there are good options on
either one of those so fulfill that need.
As to buying a dedicated camera
such as a small point-and-shoot,
while those have dramatically improved over the coming years
and you can definitely buy one,
I don't really prefer them anymore.
It's just an extra device to carry around.
I would rather get a Pixel 2.
It's so small, it's tiny, it fits in my pocket,
it does all the stuff you need it to,
and it has, easily, the best camera,
I think, on the market right now.
That will compete with any of those devices.
Now, I get it, a dedicated camera
has a larger sensor, it can do better stuff,
and there's always the trade-off.
I carry around a D7-50 from Nikon
as my professional-level camera,
but when I wanted to vacation, though, recently,
I did not take it because I was not
going to take a boat anchor around with me.
Now, I could take better photos with it,
but I stuck with the Pixel 2 and that's
what I recommend here.
So maybe keep the 9-50 around for photos
or just using it around,
but I think it's time to move on
to a different type of phone for you.
Microsoft Build 2018 is still not sold out.
Is it a sign of lack of interest in Microsoft?
So a few weeks back, someone asked me
about Microsoft build,
whether it was still on track,
and I said, "Look for the first two weeks
"of May in Seattle,"
and guess what?
It's happening in the first two weeks of May in Seattle,
somehow I magically knew that.
In fact, it's going to happen May 7th through the 9th,
and that, unfortunately, overlaps with Google IO,
which happens on the 8th through the 10th,
and they are not in the same towns.
And I wanna give Google a little credit here,
we have to be honest,
there's just going to be a lot of momentum.
It's going to be with Google,
they've got a lot more going on with Android right now,
they have their home stuff going on.
So I think devs, if they had to choose,
will probably go to IO.
I think Google's also been pretty good
at still giving out free hardware,
which is an enticement,
where Microsoft has actually cut back
on that in recent years.
As to what we can expect at Build,
well, there's only one keynote instead of two
and it seems to be not as big as
it's going to be in the past.
And I'm not really hearing a lot
of stuff that's going to be going on.
We may even hear of a second event
going on that's going to talk about
Redstone 5 and more consumer stuff,
including possibly even Andromeda,
we'll have to wait and see there.
Yeah, short answer, I think Google
has the momentum here.
It's just unfortunate that both of these shows,
for the first time,
are going to overlap completely.
I think Microsoft's going to lose out a little bit here.
So that does it for this week's episode.
Remember, if you have a question,
use #AskDanWindows on Twitter
or drop me an email at askdan@windowscentral.com.
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Take care, everybody.
Question, use #AskDanWindows on Twitter
or drop me an email at ask...
I don't know what my email is.
Askdan@windowscentral.com, okay.