14 DAY TRIAL // The Surface Hub will no longer ship on January 1, as originally planned, and Microsoft has not only confirmed the delay but has also revealed a new price increase that will come into effect for new orders.
A report by ZDNet and citing an email sent by Microsoft on December 22 shows that the Surface Hub is now projected to ship in early 2016, but no other specifics have been provided. So no, the videoconferencing system will no longer become available on the first day of the next year, but sometime in the next three months.
At the same time, Microsoft has also decided to increase the price of the device by $2,000, which means that the 55-inch model will now cost $8,999 (€8,250) in the United States while the 84-inch version will be available for $21,999 (€20,155).
"After evaluating the market opportunity and considering the unique collaboration scenarios Surface Hub offers, we believe these are the right prices to drive the business and the category forward," a Microsoft spokesperson has briefly said.
The Microsoft Surface Hub
Based on the wall-mounted Perceptive Pixel displays, the Surface Hub is a videoconferencing system aimed at companies that are looking to boost communication and collaboration between employees and departments.
It comes in two different sizes, 55 or 84 inches, with the latter also offering 4K video support, and is powered by 4th generation Intel Core processors (the smaller version comes with i5 while the bigger one features an i7). The 55-inch version integrates an Intel HD Graphics 4600 graphics card while the 84-inch features NVIDIA Quadro K2200. Both come with 1n 128 GB SSD and 8 GB of RAM, Wi_Fi, NFC, Bluetooth, USB ports, and DisplayPort video output.
The device runs Windows 10 and features all the collaboration and productivity apps developed by Microsoft, including Office Apps, OneNote, and Skype for Windows.