Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during the company’s event today that “We are the company that stands for empowering the builders, the makers, the creators,” and the products that Microsoft has shown off today are in line with that claim. Microsoft has announced a new accessory today called Surface Dial, it works with some of the company’s Surface computers and is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
The Surface Dial actually looks quite like a big puck but you aren’t supposed to play hockey with it. When the Surface Dial is placed on a compatible computer’s screen a radial menu pops up around it. The options that appear will depend on the app that’s open at that time, so if Paint is open, you will get options for different colors and brush types. Surface Dial can also be used to pan around and navigate the image.
It can be rotated to control what’s on the screen, Surface Dial uses haptic feedback to register click of different options as the screen is being controlled. The idea behind this is to enable artists and designers to use both hands while they’re working on a Surface PC for a more natural experience.
Even if you’re not a designer the Surface Dial will adapt to your requirements. For example, it can be used in music streaming apps like Pandora and Spotify to control the volume. The possibilities are most certainly endless with the Surface Dial which is compatible with the Surface Studio, Surface Book, Surface Pro 4, and the Surface Pro 3.
Microsoft is going to release the Surface Dial on November 10th for $99.
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