Everything Microsoft Announced at Today’s Surface Event

The Surface Pro (11th Edition) is available for preorder now and starts at $1,000. It goes on sale June 18.

New Copilot and Windows Features

Microsoft also announced several features exclusive to Windows 11, which will be available on June 18. Here are a few notable ones.

Recall

There’s nothing more frustrating than when you can’t find a photo, email, or file from a few days ago on your device. Scrolling through tons of emails, clicking through all your open tabs, and opening files can be time-consuming. Recall wants to solve this.

Microsoft says Recall lets you find anything you’ve seen or done on your PC with a simple search query, and it’s powered by state-of-the-art large language models, which can understand various content on your PC, like text, images, and videos. It works in any application so you can search across your computer. It’s not unlike the Ask Photos feature Google recently announced at its developer conference, except that is only available in Google Photos.

For example, if you’re looking for a blue dress you saw online, you can search “blue dress” in Windows 11 and it will pull together all the choices you’ve viewed on your device. If you’re looking for a specific one sent to you via a messaging app, you can search “blue pantsuit with sequin lace from grandma,” and Recall will find it for you so you don’t have to scroll through hundreds of messages.

Microsoft says the Recall index is stored locally on device and won’t be used to train any artificial intelligence models, so the data is private. It’s customizable too, so you can exclude certain websites or apps, allowing you to prevent it from accessing private content.

Courtesy of Microsoft

Live Captions

With Live Captions, you’ll get instant real-time translation from 44 languages into English across any video or audio call. This can also be used for other scenarios like when watching a movie, allowing you to turn live captions into English subtitles in real-time.

Courtesy of Microsoft

Windows Studio Effects

To help enhance video calls, the webcams in the new Surface computers come with AI-powered features called Windows Studio Effects. You’ll have access to creative filters in three styles (illustrated, animated, and watercolor); Portrait Light, which adjusts the lighting for a more natural appearance; Eye Contact, which adjusts your eyes so they appear to look at the camera even if you’re looking off to the side; Portrait Blur, to add a blurred background behind you; and Voice Focus to enhance your audio and reduce background noise.

This is a developing story. Check back soon for more updates.