Author: rquickenden

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#Windows365 is here as Microsoft announces Cloud PC at Inspire2021

Windows365 is a new service that will let users access their corporate ‘cloud’ PC from anywhere by streaming a version of Windows 10 (or Windows 11 when released) in a web browser. At initial launch, (2nd August 2021), organisations have two edition options – Windows 365 Business and Windows 365 Enterprise – with multiple Cloud PC configurations in each edition based on performance needs.

Designed for the disparate and agile workforce

Windows 365 allows organisations to equip distributed workforces, temporary and seasonal employees, contractors, and employees who have a need for specialised workloads in a flexible and highly secure manner – regardless of their location or device. Windows 365 will allow organisations to add and remove users with secure managed Cloud PCs according to the changing needs of the business and of the individual user, allowing them to scale for busy periods without the logistical challenges of issuing new hardware. Cloud PCs can be scoped, and scales based on the specification/power that best meets the user need and is paid for on a simple per user per month price.

Built on Azure Virtual Desktop – runs on anything

Windows 365 is built on Azure Virtual Desktop but simplifies the virtualization experience and licensing. Organisations that require greater customization and flexibility can of course still opt for Azure Virtual Desktop to modernize their VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) in the cloud or use a combination of both. 

Windows 365 offers a consistent Windows experience, across any device/operating system including Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, or Android. It promises to support all your business apps such as Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, line of business apps, and more as well as the Office 365 suite.

It provides an instant-on boot experience that enables users to stream all their personalized applications, tools, data, and settings from the cloud across any device and allow them to pick up right where they left off. The state of a user’s Cloud PC remains the same, even when they switch devices.

Feature Support for Windows 365
Windows 365 Device Support (July 2021)

Consistent Device Management

Microsoft Endpoint Manager is used to procure, deploy, and manage Cloud PCs for their organisation, since Windows 365 is consistent with how they manage physical devices with Microsoft End Point Manager. Cloud PCs are managed alongside physical devices and can apply management and security policies to them in the same way as they do on physical devices.  There is extensive monitoring too and IT can change on the fly the specification (processor, RAM, and disk) to adjust the performance of the Cloud PC to make sure the users are getting the best experience. There’s also built-in analytics and performance metrics to look at connection health across network to make sure the Cloud PC users can reach everything they need.

Build on Zero Trust Foundation

Windows 365 is built with a focus on a Zero Trust architecture. It stores information in the cloud, not on the device, and encryption is used everywhere as you’d expect with an Azure service. All managed disks running Cloud PCs are encrypted, stored data is encrypted at rest, and all network traffic to and from the Cloud PCs is also encrypted.

Licensing Information

Unlike other virtualisation services, Windows 365 is priced on a per-user price and are allocated via the Microsoft 365 admin centre portal in the same way as other Microsoft 365 E3/E5 licenses.

Windows 365 will initially come in two flavours – Business and Enterprise, and Microsoft will offer 12 different configurations for both the editions. The Cloud PCs can be configured with a single CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage at the low-end, all the way up to eight CPUs, 32GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage.

A full range of available configuration and example scenarios is available here.

Windows 365 will be officially available on August 2, 2021, and pricing will be announced on the same day, though rumours say we expect pricing to start from ~£25pupm

 

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There are no clouds in space… But there is Azure!

I read an article recently about Stephen Kitay – the Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, who is now  Senior Director at Microsoft Azure Space. It got me thinking… Firstly.. what a cool job title…. and secondly… what is Azure Space..

It’s quite cool.. Tech and Space!

Microsoft says that “Azure Space was created to be the platform and ecosystem of choice for the mission needs of the space community” . It’s designed to make connectivity and compute increasingly attainable across industries including agriculture, energy, telecommunications, and government.”

Azure Space Overview

I loved researching and sharing some of what I read. What a great project to be part of… Imagine being asked what do you at a networking event and saying “supporting customers on their space missions off and on the planet, using the power of cloud and space technology to help business across industries re-imagine solutions to some of the world’s most challenging problems”

Taking cloud-powered innovation beyond Earth with “Azure Space”.

With the enormous challenges space presents, there also comes great opportunity. The space community is growing rapidly, and innovation is lowering the barriers of access for public and private sector organizations.

Microsoft is the first hyperscale cloud service provider to join the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) as a member organization and they plan to share our unique global threat insights to protect critical infrastructure and strengthen cybersecurity expertise across the space community.

What is the purpose and applications for Azure Space?

“Microsoft are diligently working to make Azure the platform of choice for the mission needs of the space community, bringing our unique global threats insights to protect critical infrastructure and strengthen cybersecurity expertise in the space industry“.

But…. Its not just about sticking Azure in space stations and shuttles.

Putting compute, data and AI into space makes connectivity and compute increasingly more attainable and accessible across the globe and has huge benefits across industries such as agriculture, energy, telecommunications as well as across the public sector and in particular in regions where traditional connectivity and access to compute is more sparse. Third and developing world nations will also hugely benefit. “ our ambition is to grow the entire world community, which is the basis for Azure Space.”

OK so what is Azure Space though?

Azure Space is basically a set of innovative service offerings, a new partner ecosystem and a global strategy focused on specific core areas to addresses never-before-seen security challenges. Azure Space is made up of 3 main things..

Azure Space Components Overview

Azure orbital

Azure Orbital is a Ground Station As-a-Service that provides communication and control of a satellite and enables satellite operators to communicate with and control their satellites, process data, and scale operations within Microsoft Azure.

Azure Orbital brings satellite data directly into Azure, where it can immediately be processed with market-leading data analytics, geospatial tools, machine learning, and Azure AI services.

In essence Azure Orbital will allow  organisations/providers of “space connected stuff”, to take full advantage of the Microsoft’s global network and services infrastructure to build new product offerings and services with the edge, 5G, SD-WAN, and AI.

Azure Modula Datacenter

 The Azure Modular Datacenter (MDC) is a complete, rugged datacenter solution for organisations/servjce providers that need cloud computing capabilities in hybrid, sparse or challenging environments like space.

Microsoft designed the MDC to support high-intensity, secure cloud computing in challenging environments, such as situations where critical prerequisites like power and building infrastructure are unreliable. Built on Azure Stack(r), it is a self-contained unit the provides the capability to deploy a complete datacenter to remote locations, or to complement existing infrastructure. The MDC runs primarily on terrestrial fiber, low-bandwidth networks, or be completely disconnected.

Azure Orbital Simulator

With space mow opening up to more commercial and government space organisation, the pace and demand of developing interconnected satellite networks increases exponentially.

To aid with this, Microsoft have created Azure Orbital Emulator, an emulation environment that conducts massive satellite constellation simulations with software and hardware in the loop. This allows satellite developers to evaluate and train AI algorithms and satellite networking before ever launching a single satellite reducing cost, time and money as well as human safety naturally. With Azure Orbital Emulator, Azure can emulate an entire satellite network including complex, real-time scene generation using pre-collected satellite imagery for direct processing by virtualized and actual satellite hardware.

“The Goal of Azure Orbital Emulator is to aid the preparation of space missions with the power of Azure.”

Azure Orbital Emulator is already being used Azure Government customers globally.

Credits and further reading

Some of the content here is referenced/quoted from the full comprehensive report. https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/07/13/microsoft-azure-space and on twitter at @helpnetsecurity. Much of the information comes from Microsoft Azure blogs referenced below.

For further reading (it’s quite interesting) you can read Microsofts official blurb and ongoing updates here.

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Microsoft makes another security acquisition…

Microsoft has just announced that they are to acquire cyber security company RiskIQ in a $500m deal.

RiskIQ provide cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) for businesses to identity various phishing, fraud, malware and other online threats.

Risk IQ

Microsoft’s Eric Doerr (VP of Cloud Security) explained in their annoucement how RiskIQ’s expertise and global threat intelligence platform will help their customers to better apprehend online threats in their digital transformation journey with the technology to become part of their integrated Security and Threat protection suite(s).

“The combination of RiskIQ’s attack surface management and threat intelligence empowers security teams to assemble, graph, and identify connections between their digital attack surface and attacker infrastructure and activities to help provide increased protection and faster response”.

Eric Doerr (Microsoft VP of Cloud Security)

Microsoft have a growing and comprehensive industry leading portfolio of integrated security and threat protection solutions for addressing the needs of hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The acquisition of RiskIQ’s expertise follows an ongoing list of acquisitions in the cybersecurity area.

“Our (Risk IQs) technology and amazing people will be a powerful addition to Microsoft solutions. Together, we’ll empower CISOs and security operations teams to proactively detect and defend their enterprise against all threats, both on-premise and across multi-cloud. “

Statement from RiskIQ

You can read the full annoucement in the Microsoft Security Blog here.

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What’s Windows 11 really about then?

Windows 11

Windows 11 is new – in this blog I look into some of the reasons why we have a Windows 11 and not simply another update to Windows 10!

In summary, I think Windows 11 is about three main things which I will discuss below…

  • Taking advantage of the huge surge in demand in hardware. 
  • A new modern and fresh visual UI
  • The ability to considerably secure and protect users (not just corporates either)

Wasn’t Windows 10 supposed to be the last version of Windows?

That’s what we all thought, since when Microsoft released Windows 10, Jerry Nixen (a former senior technical evangelist at Microsoft) had said “Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10“. This, however, was never really the official line by “THE MICROSOFT”, and was more of a throwaway comment but one that people seem to have remembered (including me!!). Anyway, there is a Windows 11 coming. Period.

To answer the “why”, during the official announcement of Windows 11,  Panos Panay said that “You have to step back and consider what’s most important for people right now, and so much has changed over the last 18 months. A lot of the time spent over the last 18 months [within Microsoft] was looking at Windows and what it means to be for what’s next [with hybrid work].”

But why Windows 11 and not Windows 10 2022H1?

“The PC started to move from fitting into people’s lives to shifting our lives to fit into the PC,” said Panos Panay at the announcement of Windows 11 back in June.

Six years after launch, the vast majority of the Windows world is now (finally) running Windows 10. With the surge (ok, like, everyone) suddenly working from home combined with the increase in security threats from phishing and ransomware also combined with the first significant PC growth spurt in more than a decade, Microsoft clearly saw a big reason (and opportunity) to re-invent Windows in a year which has reportedly seen a 75% year-over-year increase in the time people “spent” in Windows.

Canlays Report - PC Shipments 2020

According to Canlays, “the PC market is expected to remain strong through at least the end of the year and into 2022″ as hybrid working seems set to stay and requires (in most cases) mobile computing which typically have a “refresh” cycle of 3 years (4 at a push). Any Windows upgrade cycle (new version) that Microsoft launch risks causing demand issues (especially with the current silicon shortages), but at the same time, the fact that demand is strong and people are upgrading presents an immediate opportunity.

What’s more important (if you push the marketing and commercial aspect to one side for a moment) is that the devices people are upgrading to, typically support more advanced and modern security standards than the 4 year old devices they are typically replacing!

In short, I think Windows 11 is about three main things

  • A new modern and fresh visual UI 
  • The ability to considerably secure and protect users (not just corporates either)
  • Taking advantage of the on-going demand for PCs/laptops.

 

The new Flashy UI

There is no doubting that the UI in Windows 11 looks different (yet also very familiar). There are a also bunch of new features in the first initial build (with loads more coming in later builds) – you need to bear in mind that there is still at least 5 months of development and refinement to go before Windows 11 is officially launched).

Windows 11 Desktop

Many of the new features have been shaped around the changing ways in which people have learned, worked and played during the pandemic. As an example,

  • Universal mute – a new mute button is now present on the taskbar which essentially mutes every app in Windows 11 except your UC app (by that they mean Microsoft Teams), to prevent those embarrassing microphone moments.
  • Leave my apps where there were mode (ok it’s not officially called that), but Microsoft in Windows 11 finally leaves your apps on the screen you left them when using multiple monitors. In Windows 10, apps are rearranged or moved to single screen when you disconnect or reconnect a monitor. To be honest though – they could have easily (and still could fix this in Windows 10 21H2)

There’s lots more to the UI and reasons why some of the changes (like the centred start menu) are where they are – you can read/watch more about this here

Security, Security, Security

Outside of the cosmetics (which are of course important as it’s what we interface on a daily basis), Microsoft (who by the way invest over $1B in security R&D each year) want to push the market forward to adopt the much needed new security standards. Setting minimum standards around security (rather than just RAM and Processor speed) is of course a good way to this. Again – they didn’t really need a new “version” to do this – after all, Windows 11 is “built” on Windows 10, so with notice and planning they “could” have still achieved the same result in my book, but this way they can continue with Windows 10 (bear in mind that Windows 10 will be supported until at least 2025) but use Windows 11 as the driving force to improve security – something their commercial customers will likely not want to ignore.

Secure from Chip to Cloud with Windows 11

Microsoft have been talking about Security from Chip to Cloud with Surface and Windows 10 for about a year now and given the huge demand for new PCs/Laptops, Microsoft should be able to drive a quicker shift towards better security standards. Microsoft sees hardware as a currently security flaw (in many cases) which is why there will be emphasis and requirement on TPM 2.0 for Windows 11 which has been standard in Microsoft Surface for several generations now but has not been a Windows requirement…..until now!

So what is TPM anyway? TPM stands for Trusted Platform Module and even though this technology has existed in new PCs for some years, its only really Microsoft that have talked about extensively. Since TPM 2.0 will be requirement for Windows 11, we will heard a lot more about it from PC manufacturers with Windows 11 certified hardware.

In a recent security blog post from Microsoft’s director of enterprise and Operating Security, they explain in detail the importance of TPM 2.0, along with some other security benefits of Windows 11.

TPM is a chip that’s integrated into a main motherboard on a PC or Laptop and is designed to helps protect sensitive data, user credentials, and encryption keys as well as protect these devices from malware and ransomware attacks, which are becoming ever more common. This, combined with the ransomware protection features built into Windows 11 (and Windows 10) known as “Controlled folder access” will go along way to further protect users and organisation against cyber crime.

TPM 2.0 is a “critical building block for providing security with Windows Hello and BitLocker to help customers better protect their identities and data,” Microsoft explains in their blog.

In addition to the TPM requirements, Windows 11 also provides new built-in security features including:-

  • Microsoft Azure Attestation, which can enforce Zero Trust policies with supported mobile device management tools like Intune
  • Support for virtualization-based security, hypervisor-protected code integrity,
  • Secure Boot built-in, and hardware-enforce stack protection for supported hardware from both Intel and AMD.

Become a Windows Insider and test Windows 11 today

People always ask me “how you download it or get a dodgy build like the one that leaked a few weeks ago”. Its actually really simple and legal to get Windows 11  – but to do so you (or your organisation) need to be enrolled in the Windows Insider Programme. I’ve been a Windows Insider for 6 years now and it’s been a great journey to be (or at least feel) part of the on-going development of Windows moving forward.

I’ve written about what it means to be a Windows Insider before, but you can check out the Real Inside story of Windows 11 here.

Watch to learn more about the key design & security concepts of Windows 11

Windows 11 - secure from chip to cloud:
https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2021/06/25/windows-11-enables-security-by-design-from-the-chip-to-the-cloud
 
Meet the Windows 11 Maker(s) story:
https://insider.windows.com/en-us/insidewindows11/video/meet-charles-inspiring-inclusivity
Windows 11 Start - "Centred around you":
https://insider.windows.com/en-us/insidewindows11/video/start-is-centered-around-you
The Windows 11 Design story:
https://insider.windows.com/en-us/insidewindows11/video/new-look-new-feel
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Windows 11. A fuss about nothing? Not at all!

Windows 11 logo

So last week, Microsoft officially unveiled the “Next generation on Windows” with #Windows11 and 4 days later the first #WindowsInsider build (yes its rough around the edges still) made its way to insiders. I’ve only been using it a day but I can tell you…
“It’s NOT a fuss about nothing. It’s a big and welcome change”.

Windows11 #WindowsInsiderBuild

What’s the big deal?

Well, It’s been 6 years since #Windows10 launched and it’s been updated roughly twice a year since launch which has included the gradual (they are still working on it) phase out of the remaining legacy features and components left over from #Windows7. Truth be told, much of the reason for these legacy remains have been necessary to support older legacy applications that still today exist across many industries..

Windows 10 is  the world’s most widely used PC operating system with over 1.4 Billion devices using it (yes there is “still Windows 7 and XP out there)!

Windows 11, (which will release later this year) promoses a fresh new design and many newly designed features design to address the new needs of work, education and productivity and creativity…. and was described by Panos Panay, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer as “the Windows that brings you closer to the things you love“. So what new features can we expect?

So. What’s new?

Secure from Chip to Cloud

A lot has changed and lots for will be coming as the operating system develops and matures before it’s expected launch in Autumn this year.

One of the core things you may have heard in the press is about the significant system requirements needed to run Windows11. Much of this is around requiring the use of modern processors and in particular modern security in the form of TPM 2.0.

TPM stands for Trusted Platform Module. Even though TPM 2.0 has been in new PCs for years, it’s a technology that many hadn’t heard of until this week.

Whilst I’m not going to dive into this here, (you can) a new security blog post from Microsoft’s director of enterprise and Operating System Security, David Weston, explains the importance of TPM 2.0. Security is big in #Windows11 and is a major step towards any organisation achieving zero trust security policy. Read the blog above to learn more..

Evolved, redesigned but ever “familiar” design

The main change from Windows 10 to a Windows 11 is a new refreshed and completed updated user interface which has rounded “fresh looking” corners, new modern desktop wallpapers, pastel colours, a centred Start menu and Taskbar and more adaptive experience complete with modern style widgets which essentially replace the “live tiles”.

The UI feels very modern and dare I say a bit “mac-like” and is very comparable to what we saw with early concepts of what  Windows 10X was going to look like…..but what else is new? If you haven’t see it yet (where have you been), then check out the “sizzle” video below.

  • Increased performance. Windows 11 promises more performance whilst browsing the internet with Microsoft Edge and major updates (which will be once a year) will also be nearly 1/2nthe size of Windows 10s.
  • “Snap Layouts” make multi-tasking and the transition from single screen to multi screen much easier without need to remember keyboard shortcuts or use third party apps. With snap layouts users can create “collections” of the apps you are using which can sit in “groups” in the Taskbar. These can then be and can maximised or minimised together allowing you to switch between tasks and apps quicker. This comes into its own if you use multiple displays or use your laptop/Surface connected to a monitor since it ensures that the apps always open on your preferred screen.
  • Android Apps are coming to Windows through a new ’emulator’ and will available from the Amazon Appstore.
  • New App Store. The new revamped store promises to be faster and will be the “the safest and most secure way for you to get your apps on Windows.”
  • Widgets replace LiveTiles. Familiar to a modern mobile experience, widgets can be accessed directly from the Taskbar and uses AI to provide a personalised and contextualised experience and content. This builds/replaces the recent “news bar” in Windows 10 Build 21H1
  • Microsoft Teams will be (its not in the first build) integrated directly into the Taskbar. This replaces Skype (in Windows 10) and enables users to initiate calls and meetings as well as mute yourself. This will come when the new redesigned Teams client is available later this year.
  • Xbox “built in”. Well, sort of! Xbox is a big part of Microsoft so it’s unsurprising that enhanced gaming experiences such as cloud streaming, Auto HDR and Direct Storage which are all found in Xbox are coming to gaming PCs to improve gaming on PC.

How can I get it now?

The official Windows 11 upgrade will begin rolling out to all new and compatible devices in late 2021 (most likely November time) – but if you want to try an early version, provide feedback and test new features as they are being developed, you can join the Windows Insider Program.

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Microsoft has just made a HUGE acquisition in the AI space in the region of $20Billion.

Microsoft has just acquired voice AI expert Nuance for just shy of $20Billion which should be completed by the end of 2021.

This is part of Microsoft’s continued “big bet” on healthcare. In fact, Nuance and Microsoft have been partnering on products relying on voice AI for a while, but the acquisition gives Microsoft access to Nuance’s extensive portfolio of tech to complement its drive for more of the enterprise AI market.

Gartner analyst Gregg Pessin said that “The healthcare industry is primed for digital transformation. All of the digital giants have healthcare initiatives. This acquisition moves MS forward in that effort,” and “provides Microsoft access to Nuance’s well-established healthcare client base — think EHRs with digital transcription capabilities“.

Announced earlier this year, but now formally approved, this is one of Microsoft’s biggest acquisitions to date, though it is still shy of their biggest acquisition to date, which was their acquisition of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion.

Who is Nuance?

Nuance is known by many as the company that “helped make Apple’s Siri”, but in fact their voice technology is used in several ways and across many different industries including the health, science, and medical sector.

Microsoft has been working with Nuance since 2019 and has worked vigorously in the health care industry (a huge focus sector for Microsoft) to help doctors capture medical information from patients during care. Microsoft has said that bringing the Nuance technology and people into Microsoft will enable further rapid worldwide adoption of the technology across more professional industries.

As part of the announcement today, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella said: “Together, with our partner ecosystem, we will put advanced AI solutions into the hands of professionals everywhere to drive better decision-making and create more meaningful connections, as we accelerate growth of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare and Nuance.”

Just health or wider applications?

Microsoft announced the “Cloud for Health” about a year ago – so this leap make sense in starting to put some more “guts” to their health proposition.  There is clearly a lot of value in the AI technology that enables Nuance’s products to achieve the high NLP accuracy levels needed for medical/healthcare and medicine terminology transcription.

That said, it clearly would make sense i think that Microsoft might leverage this AI to work in a comparable way in other verticals which inhibit similar complex language and terminology such as legal – another sector Microsoft is heavily focusing on. 

Other areas where this technology acquisition could help is in bringing smart AI and voice telemetry to their Windows 11 and Office applications such as Cortana. 

For the most through, we will have to wait to see how this technology weaves its way into the rest of the Microsoft 365 and Azure Cognitive services stack, I guess. 

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New Edge browser extension for Outlook aims to keep you informed while browsing.

The Outlook extension is in beta (due to be released in July) but is available to download now from the Microsoft Edge add-ons store.

New Outlook Edge add in

What does it do?

The Outlook Edge browser extension enables users to read, send, and manage emails and even receive outlook notifications without the need to open a new tab or flip to the app.

The extension is designed to keep users productive while browsing allowing them to:

  • Reading an important email
  • Checking your calendar
  • Adding a task based on what you’re reading on the web
  • Fast look up of a contact’s phone number
  • Referring to info on a webpage while writing an email.

How to get it and set it up

The Outlook extension is in beta but is available to download on the Microsoft Edge add-ons store. You can get it here.

Once downloaded and enabled, an Outlook icon will be added to the Edge address bar. Users will need to sign in with their work or personal account to see their emails, calendar, contacts, and tasks, and more in a pop-up menu while browsing the web.

To use the extension, you of course need to login within your Microsoft or a Microsoft 365 account

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Surface Laptop 4 AMD: Hands on review

Every bit a Surface – a premium but light weight workhorse with choice of AMD or Intel chipsets and full working day battery (and fast charge).

On test: Surface Laptop 4 13.5″ AMD Ryzen 5 / 16GB RAM

I have been lucky to have an aluminium Surface Laptop 4 13.5″ with 16Gb and the AMD Ryzen 5 chipset on loan for about 8 weeks, so thought it was about time I wrote my review! Thanks #SurfaceUK for the loan.

SurfaceLaptop 4 13.5″ AMD

Overall feel and use

Microsoft’s latest and ever gorgeous looking Surface Laptop 4 naturally features the latest generation Intel or AMD chipsets, new colours and best of all much improved battery life which lasted a full 8hrs of constant use in my test – which is pretty damn good in my book (or laptop!)

As with previous iterations, it’s hard to spot any visual differences between this and Surface Laptop 3, with it matching the dimensions, weight, port selection and design which still looks beautiful and premium as ever.

As always, the keyboard is great quality, quiet and with great “key travel” making it easy to type. The large trackpad is smooth, responsive and precise but still manages to not get in the way of typing.

Screen is bright, great resolution with it’s standard 3:2 aspect ratio. Sound from the speakers are also clear and crisp and even has surprisingly good bass and mid tones and doesn’t sound at all tinny. Films on Netflix sounded really nice – though of course sound better beamed to a high quality set of speakers or sound bar!

The webcam naturally supports Windows Hello face recognition for logging into Windows in a split second and provides 720p quality webcam (with great light and perfect field of view and microphones are better than most for video calls.

Surface Laptop 4 was whisper quiet in operation – and in my all day use test I really couldn’t hear the fans when they did kick in, which they did a few times as I was working in direct sun with video on and lots of apps.

WiFi, high brightness, video on and headset

Battery Life

Battery life was some way behind the claimed 12± hrs but did last a full 8hrs with constant use – sitting outside in the sun, blue tooth paired headset, Wi-Fi and brightness set to high. My day was spend in back to Teams video calls along with regular dips into Apps such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Battery settings were left to their defaults.

My day started at 7.00am and Surface Laptop 4 got me through to just after 3:00pm when it hit 10% and battery saver engaged. I had, in my bag an external USB battery pack (just in case) which then managed to get me about 75% charge in about an hour so I didn’t technically need to finds a mains plug (though without my USB battery pack, my day wouldn’t have finished earlier than planned)!

Inside the device

As you’d expect with the latest version, the internal components of Surface Laptop 4 have been upgraded from Laptop 3. For the first time Microsoft has the AMD’s Ryzen 5 processors available in the 13.5in laptop. The Intel version gets options of 11th-gen Core i5 or i7 chips and graphics has also been significantly improved thanks to the use of the built-in “Xe integrated” graphics.

Conclusion

The Surface Laptop 4 is (as expected) a premium quality, thin and light weight Windows 10 power-notebook from Microsoft.

The device is modern, sleek, is very light yet high quality and feels great to use. Its quick and responsive and definitely attracts that “jealous look” as Surface devices always seems to stand out in a crowd.

One of the other great things (small but important) with Surface over many other OEMs is the lack of any bloat ware. Surface comes with “just Windows 10 installed“, and the standard stock apps (including Office which needs to be activated). This means it runs fast out of box and you don’t spend hrs removing bloatware!!

A great laptop for home or work that won’t disappoint – just wish Microsoft would let me keep it!!

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Registration open for ‘virtual’ Microsoft Inspire 2021 partner event.

Microsoft has opened registrations for this years Inspire 2021 virtual conference, which will be held on July 14th and 15th.

Microsoft Inspire is Microsoft’s largest (and global) annual partner event and as usual features several high-profile global execs including CEO Satya Nadella and EVP of Worldwide Commercial Business Judson Althoff.

What might we hear about?

Last year, there was huge news and updates around Azure,  Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Edge as you’d expect with also a focus on new services such as Microsoft Lists, and Power Automate Desktop.

This year we can expect to hear some new enhancements and updates and I expect to see a focus around the recently(ish) announced Microsoft Viva along with more updates around Windows (following the event on the 24th June) and probably some new things none of us are expecting… .

You can register for Microsoft Inspire 2021 on this page with your Microsoft account, Office 365, LinkedIn, or GitHub account.

See you there Microsoft partners…

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Teams “Phone” gets a heap of new features

What’s new

June 2021,brings a host of new features to Teams phones, which translate and complement some of the newest and greatest features users get with Teams on their desktop or mobile phone today. These include.

  • Add or Transfer Call to Device
  • Custom Backgrounds on video phones
  • Improved boss/admin/PA features
  • Outlook Contacts available on phone
  • Live captions support
  • Simpler and refreshed UI making it easier to get to key functions.

Let’s dive into the top 3 which are the most noticable in my view. You can see the full blog post and all the new features from Microsoft here.

Add or Transfer Call to Device

One of the most requested features is now here with the ability to add or transfer calls and meeting across devices.

Call add or transfer in Teams Phone Edition
(image c Microsoft)

With this latest update for Teams Phone, this functionality is now consistently available across all devices meaning your desk phone will recognise you are in a call on another device and prompt you to transfer or add it in, letting you start your call from elsewhere and transfer to your desk phone.

Custom Backgrounds

Custom Backgrounds on Teams Phone

Background replacement on Teams video phones is now also available meaning feature parity with other teams devices for consistent and familiar look and feel. This role doit a couple. Of months ago to Teams collaboration displays like the Lenovo.

Improved boss/admin/PA features

New boss/admin controls on Teams Phone

A collection of little updates to improve how  users interact with their calls and contacts.

For example, when a PA/Boss/Admin is in a call users can press the purple button touch target to see new options with respect to their contacts.  The boss or admin can easily see frequent contacts with instant options to see their call status or place an outgoing call to them.

You can read the full set of features from the Microsoft blog site.

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Cisco unveil new Webex logo, new look and add a bunch of new features

Summary

Last night, Cisco unveiled a new “modern” logo for its Webex product suite along with annoucing a new set of features coming soon which range from background noise cancellation to adding polls and quizzes to make meetings more interactive.

The video Conferencing race continues as the leaders of the pack, Microsoft Teams, Webex and Zoom and Google Meet continue to see steady usage growth fueled initially by coronavirus pandemic which has now transformed into most beleive will be a longer term seismic shift to hybrid / home and office working and learning post pandemic as the world’s largest working from experiment has proved (for many) the effectiveness of home working and improved life balance achieved by ditching the daily commute.

New Webex logo

The new Webex Suite

Cisco, which also unveiled a new Webex logo, said its new hybrid work “suite” is circa 40% to buy when brought together compared to the individual components as you’d expect.

The new Webex Suite

In their blog, Cisco said they had subtly added almost 800 new features and devices since September last year to enhance the customer experience across meetings, calling, messaging, and event management specifically to address the long term needs of hybrid work which are very different from a pure remote work model.

Top new features

There was a handful of notible new features announced following a series of acquisitions over the past few months which Cisco are now ready to start baking into their new suite.

In December 2020, Cisco’s acquired Slido, and audience engagement tool with capabilities which include Q&A, polling, trivia, and gamification.

Last month, Cisco then acquired Socio Labs, an event technology platform for live, large-scale events and webinars.

Another new feature aims to more intelligently frame and reframe the speaker or most active meeting participants using machine learning and AI technology to allow the audience to better see body language and facial expressions in meetings – something more easily missed in remote/online meetings.

These new tools which will being Cisco up to or ahead of their competition, (in the case of Slido), are designed to make Webex better suited for the future of meetings and events of all sizes, including large “hybrid” events that combine in-person and virtual attendance, something all the major conferencing venues and hosts need to get right.

New logo, new look

The new webex suite comes with new fresh and dynamic look (which accompanies its new logo) which Cisco says better reflects the products values and initiatives.

The new Webex (image (C) Cisco)

Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s SVP and GM Security and Collaboration was quoted saying to Zdnet “We are unmistakably committed to inclusivity and making sure everyone has an equal voice and an equal seat at the table, no matter where the table is,”

Price “enhancements” too

Cisco said that the new Webex Suite will cost around 40% less than buying the individual components and services a-la-carte.

This is of course expected, with any suite of products but good to see and of course customers can save even more money by replacing legacy tools or disconnected services and platforms with tools from the Webex suite.

Read more?

You can read more and try this out by visiting the cisco blogs here..

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Windows Virtual Desktop becomes Azure Virtual Desktop

Microsoft announced today that they are rebranding Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD).

In the annoucement, Microsoft also said that a number of new enhancements (some of which have gone into public preview from today) are coming, which are part of the wider and longer term vision and the changing needs of customers. In the annoucement Microsoft said that the COVID19 pandemic has resulted in organisation moving rapidly to Windows Virtual Desktop for “secure, easy to manage, productive personal computing experience with Windows 10 from the cloud”.

Improved Azure AD Support

Azure Virtual Desktop will support the ability for users to domain join their virtual desktops directly to AAD using just their credentials. They are also fully removing the need for organisations to need Windows domain controller allowing Azure AD as the only or primary authoritive directory service.

Azure Virtual Desktop will also add further support for secure sign on and single sign on, bringing support for smart cards and FIDO2 keys

Another feature now out in public preview is the ability to enroll and manage Windows 10 Enterprise multi-sessions virtual machines through Endpoint Manager just like admins would for physical machines. This further improves the process of managing both physical and virtual desktops using the Endpoint Manager admin center.

Enhanced Endpoint Manager support.

Microsoft have said they are also adding support for IT to be able to automatically enroll these virtual machines using Microsoft Endpoint Manager (formerly Intune), bringing a much more “streamlined” deployment and management experience.

Also coming soon (and in public preview from today) is the ability to be able to enroll and manage Windows 10 Enterprise multi-sessions virtual machines through Microsoft Endpoint Manager in the same way that physical devices are managed today. This closes the management gap and streamlines the process of managing both physical and virtual desktops using the same Endpoint Manager experience.

New QuickStart Experience

Microsoft said that new deployment onboarding experience which will be available soon (in preview first naturally). This is designed to help organisations initiate fully automated deployments from the Azure portal using just a simple wizard style process.

New “per user” pricing model

Yes.. As it pricing and license wasn’t complicated enough, there are new pricing options coming for organisation to leverage Azure Virtual Desktop VDI and streamed applications in the form of a true SaaS based model.

To make this simpler, Microsoft have announced a new monthly per-user pricing

This new pricing will launch on January 1st, 2022, and will be $5.50 per user per month for apps, and $10 per user per month for apps plus desktops.

A launch promo will mean organisations will be able to use Azure Virtual Desktop for streaming first-party or third-party applications to external users at no cost from July 14, 2021, to December 31, 2021, after which they will need to keep paying for the underlying Azure infrastructure.

You can read about the pricing options here.

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Is Windows 11 about to be unveiled?

Well… we will find out very soon as on 24th June, Microsoft are hosting a dedicated event to talk about the future of Windows. This will be led by CEO Satya Nadella and Chief Product Officer Panos Panay.

Over the past few months there’s been increasing new stories and rumours about the upcoming future and development in #Windows10 along with the official ‘cancellation’ of #Windows10X. The latest Windows Insider preview builds have certainly been teasing apsects of future changes but to date Microsoft haven’t shed any light or let any specific ninja cats out of the bag about the next big changes to the design…but that’s going to change!

Is this Windows 11?

We don’t know yet. But the recent tweet by Panos Panay suggests something is coming and it does look a bit like an 11!

Tweet by Panos Panay

The tweet has a link to register for the event Microsoft are hosting which you register for here.

What are we expecting to hear?

Hard to say… Windows 10 is almost six years old (wow.. same age as my eldest so) yet there are still many inconsistencies across the environment and still many legacy remains of the old Windows 7 and previous builds that still haven’t been replaced or removed.

It seems likley with Panos at the healm of future Windows development and strategy he will want to inject his own mark on to its future just like he did with the huge success and leading edge design around #Surface (yes.. I am a big surface fan I know!)

I do expect this to be another defining moment in the history of Windows as Satya Nadella said this is annoucement will unveil “one of the most significant overhauls to the personal computer operating system this decade”

Time, date, registration please.

The Windows 10 event will kick off at 4PM UK time on June 24 and it will be live-streamed. The registration link also let’s you download a calendar link to add it to your outlook.

What are you hoping to see?

Interested in what you are hoping or expecting to hear about… Feel free to leave your comments in the comments section..

Thanks for reading.

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Forget Live Events… Teams Webinars have arrived!

Webinar features are now available in Microsoft Teams – they don’t need a separate subscription or add-on and setting up a webinar is as easy as scheduling a Teams meeting.

Webinars will support up to 1,000 interactive attendees, with an “overflow” experience to a 10,000-person view-only broadcast experience.

Webinars vs Live Events in Teams

I work with many organisations (including my own), that embraced Teams for Live Events (which are also available through Yammer) to deliver company all-hands, virtual events etc, and were a natural evolution to the familiar (but slightly cumbersome) Skype Broadcast Service which emerged around the time of Skype for Business Online.

One of the biggest criticisms of Teams Live Events, however, was that it was broadcast only, meaning it didn’t really support any form of audience engagement and presentation, layout and in-broadcast options were limited – it could also be tricky to get remote (outside your organisation) presenters into Teams Live events.

Webinars will support up to 1,000 interactive attendees, with what they refer to as “overflow” experience that allows additional attendees (up to 10,000) to join in a view-only broadcast mode – similar to how Live Events works!

You can be forgiven for being a bit confused by the terminology used by Microsoft here – as they talk about “meetings”, “virtual events”, “live events” and now “webinars”. The distinction here is virtual events/Live Events can and typically use dedicated AV equipment, have multiple co-ordinators and “drivers” and use broadcast tech like NDI to stream/restream content to YouTube, LinkedIn etc.

So – what are “Webinars in Teams“?

You can now use Microsoft Teams , as the single and familiar tool for all your meeting types whether that’s 1:1 or 1: many, ad hoc meetings, scheduled meetings and now webinars and within Microsoft has included several options (more are coming) to choose from to make the webinar experience as professional, rich and engaging as possible for both presenters and attendees including the ability to use native registration pages if you wish.

How Teams Webinars Work

Exactly the same as a Teams Meeting!  – this is one of the best bits – There’s no additional app to use, the only additional being filling in some optional registration features (if you wish to use the registration option). 

Setting up the Webinar

To get started and organise a Webinar from within Team, you simply head to your calendar in Teams, and select ‘Webinar’ in the ‘New Meeting’ drop down. From here you can add presenters and co-presenters, also create a customisable registration form which you can then share via your marketing platform or share on LinkedIn, Twitter etc. 

1. Create the Webinar from the Teams Calendar
Creating a teams webinar from the calendar app
Creating a Webinar from Teams Calendar

2. Decide who you want to have register for the event (no one, all or internal only). I’ve found that for most customers, the “for everyone” is greyed out. To enable this, you will need to get your Microsoft Teams administrator(s) will need to allow this setting to be enabled at an organisation level via a policy in Teams.

Whilst this will be possible to do in the Teams Admin Centre, at time of writing, it must be done via PowerShell – You can read more on how to do this here. 

Choose who has to register for the webinar

3. If you choose to require registration (bear in mind, you don’t have to – you can continue to use your existing third party event registration process), then you can create a customised registration page as illustrated below.

Important: Only invite your presenters/organisers to this meeting – you use the registration link to send to attendees!

Creating the Teams Webinar

4. If you chose “Require Registration”, then you can go on to complete the registration input form and get the link.

You can see from the example below that you can also add custom fields for the registration and can add things like speaker biographies for your guests to see.

Create Webinar Registration Page

Registering for your Webinar

Once you have set-up your Webinar, you simply send out the registration URL via email, your website or any other method. Depending on the registration type, your users then click on the link and register. If the webinar is for “internal” only, then the users will be be authenticated by Azure AD and their name, email etc., filled in automatically. If set to “everyone”, then everyone needs to manually register.

Sending an email with the registration linkRegister for the Webinar

On registering, the attendee receives an email to say they have been registered along with the join link and option to add to their calendar.

Registration Successful Email

 

The Webinar Experience

Presenter Experience

When it’s time for the webinar, presenters / co-presenters are presented join the meeting in the same way they would join any other Teams meeting – complete with the familiar lobby experience.

On joining / starting the webinar the presenters get the same set of rich features they are used to in Teams (because it is Teams) including, dynamic view, chat and more.

Also worth noting, that Microsoft have continued to make huge improvements to optimise the participant and presenter engagement experience. For example, when you’re presenting a PowerPoint within the Webinar, PowerPoint presenter mode provides the same familiar presentation experience presenters are used to in presentations – meaning instead of the presenter seeing the same screen as the audience, they can see all the meeting controls as well as the attendees to the right or at the top allowing them to have the most engaging experience with their audience.

Also just rolling out is the ability to now appear in-front of your presentation or screen share – think weather report experience on TV! 

Attendee Experience

Attendees (which is arguable the most important attendees in the webinar), can join via Teams on their mobile, desktop or via a browser in the same way anyone would join a Teams meeting.  

Attendees can view the presentation, send live reactions, and use the raise hand feature if they want to ask a question. With PowerPoint Live built into the experience, attendees can even move through the presentation slides (if enabled by the presenter) at their own pace if they’ve missed a slide or want to preview content ahead of time.

Throughout the event, the presenter is in fully control of the meeting and can disable the microphone or video of attendees but if needed, reactivate them, and even spotlight presenters (or key attendees) should they want to give them the opportunity to speak.


What happens after the webinar?

After the webinar finishes, the webinar host receives (or can download) an attendee report which shows details around who joined the webinar, how long they stayed for etc.

This data can be exported and re-imported into your CRM or even automatically “connected” into Microsoft Dynamics 365 for follow up and post webinar engagement. 

Webinar Registrations

 

What do you think?

That’s it really – hope you found this useful. Welcome your feedback on using Teams for webinars, and on this information.

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Microsoft beats FY21 Q3 revenue expectations on back of strong cloud and PC sales

Another blinding quarter for Microsoft as they report on their 2021 Q3 Fiscal.

Revenue: $41.7 billion vs $41.05 billion expected

Earnings per share: $2.03 vs $1.78 expected

The biggest winners as above were its Azure Cloud business (Intelligent Cloud) and strong revenue off the back of strong PC sales.

Azure leads the Growth

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft’s biggest growth, and the areas that has pushed its market capitalisation needle to almost $2 trillion, is its Azure cloud division. For the last quarter, Microsoft saw $15.12 billion in revenue from the segment, a 23% year-over-year increase. Azure growth is up 50% YoY.

Intelligent Cloud: $15.12b vs $14.9b expected

Productivity and Business Process: $13.6b vs $13.2b expected. Increase of 15%

More Personal Computing: $13.04 billion versus $12.6 billion expected

“Over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital adoption curves aren’t slowing down, they’re accelerating, and it’s just the beginning,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “We are building the cloud for the next decade, expanding our addressable market and innovating across every layer of the tech stack to help our customers be resilient and transform“.

The other stars of the show

In addition to Azure, Microsoft saw:

  • 19% growth in Personal Computing growth of more than 10% year on year growth of Windows 10 revenue.
  • 35% increase in Xbox and Gaming Revenue
  • Microsoft 365 Consumer subscribers increased to 50.2 million
  • LinkedIn revenue increased 25%
  • Dynamics products and cloud services revenue increased 26% driven by Dynamics 365 revenue growth of 45%
  • Surface revenue increased 12% (up by $1.5 billion). Surface continues to grow at a steady and modest pace despite chip shortages and increased competition.

And Teams?

Well of course this is all part of Offixe 365 but… Some great numbers here too.. Microsoft seem to have consistent teams Daily active usage of 145million daily active users… 100% growth on this time last year as nicely announced by Jeff Teper

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Coming Soon:Outlook will be able to book you travel time between your ‘physical’ meetings

As we start to thing about post covid working it’s likely that more us will go back to have at least some physical meetings with our clients and customers and this means travel time!

Outlook will soon be getting some clever new important updates around recognising where meetings are and allowing travel time to be automatically booked.

Coming to the Outlook Web client first, this new feature will allow users to book travel time appointments and also transportation between meetings. “Now when you need to go to a different building or place between meetings, Outlook will enable you to book travel time and way of transportation between the places you need to go,” is the how the feature is explained in the Microsoft 365 roadmap.

Until now there have been numerous third-party add ons available that do similar things but I’ve never found these much good and they don’t work cross platform. Presumably this feature once realised will also makes its way to desktop and mobile too.

I would expect this to enter public preview as part of the #OfficeInsider programme in the next month or so.

Thoughts?

What do you think of this addition? .Maybe it’s because people have forgotten how tenuous travel between meetings used to be now that most of our meetings are all online!

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Microsoft has just released a Data Loss Prevention Alert “Dashboard”

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is used by organisations to define and enforce data protection policies that identify and prevent risky or inappropriate sharing, transfer or use of sensitive information across cloud, on-premise and endpoints within an organisation or establishment.

Until now it was possible to configure alerts, as a part of the DLP policy authoring experience which provide an effective way for admins or compliance officers  to get notified whenever a DLP policy is breached.

Microsoft has now announced the General Availability (GA) of their Data Loss Prevention “Alerts Dashboard” . This latest enhancement provides organisations with the ability to easily and holistically visualise and then investigate DLP policy violations across their entire infrastructure including:

New Alerts Dashboard enhances DLP experience

  • On-premises file shares
  • Exchange / Exchange Online
  • Teams
  • OneDrive
  • Other non msft cloud apps and SaaS apps
  • Devices (where endpoint DLP is used).

The alerts dashboard provides a list view of all of the DLP alerts. The relevant details can then be investigated by simply clicking on an alert. APIs of course exist to allow you to call these alerts from other event management platforms and SEIM products like Azure Sentinel for example.

Microsoft DLP dashboard (April 2021)

Microsoft DLP is of course just part of the comprehensive set of Gartner Magic Quadrant leading Information Protection, Compliance and Governance solutions that are part of the Microsoft 365 E5 (and Microsoft 365 Compliance stack).

Customers can easily sign up for a trial of Microsoft 365 E5 via the admin centre, or by speaking to your Microsoft Partner (like the company I work for at https://www.cisilion.com/microsoft) to get more information, arrange a demo or run a PoC.

More information on this with can be found on the Microsoft 365 blogs here.

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Surface Laptop 4 launches with new work from home accessories for business.

SurfaceLaptop4

Today (Tuesday 13th April 2021), Microsoft officially unveiled the 2021 Surface Laptop 4.

Surface Laptop, in my opinion, has always been the best “looking” Surface device since it was first released back in 2017. Not only that but Microsoft say the Surface Laptop has the highest level of customer satisfaction across all its Surface devices. 

Speeds and Feeds

Let’s cut to the basics, Microsoft claim that Surface Laptop 4 is up to 70% faster, has significantly longer battery life (with up to 19 hours of battery life on the 13.5” AMD variant), updated colours, 11th Gen Intel Chipsets and Dolby Atmos Audio. Retains USB C and USB-A.

Surface Laptop 4

Above all this Surface Laptop and updated/new accessories has been designed for the hybrid worker which seems set to be the default for most post COVID-19.

Oh…new Surface Headphones “for Business” too

Along with the launch of Surface Laptop 4, Microsoft also announced new Surface Headphones 2+ for Business which have been designed for Microsoft Teams. In addition, the Surface Headphones 2+ battery is rated to 15 hours of voice use and includes 13 levels of adjustable noise cancellation. Microsoft have also included a USB dongle which has a LED indicator to show when the microphone is muted. 

These ship with a dongle (needed for Teams certification). Pricing is $299. Shipping now.

Oh…and Surface branded Webcam and USB-Speaker. 

Yep – you heard it right.  If you have your own home office and don’t need to rely on headphones or ear pods, then Microsoft has now launched their very own Surface branded Webcam and USB-C Speaker.  Pricing was confirmed at $99.99 and available from June.

Microsoft Teams Speaker

Next up, Microsoft announced the Surface webcam which offers true 1080p video resolution video (which beats the built in 720p camera) and provides a 78-degree field of view, support for HDR, and an integrated privacy shutter.  Cost is $69 and ships in June.

SurfaceWebCam

Both of these are important accessories to ensure calls are crisp and clear when working from home. Many still use cheap headsets or non-Teams certified devices so it’s great to see Microsoft release their own Surface branded accessories for their devices. 

Pre orders available now. 

 

 

 

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64-bit OneDrive Sync client now available in preview…

OneDrive for Business Logo

Last night, Microsoft released a public preview of the 64-bit version of the OneDrive for Windows sync client.

This upcoming 64-bit version of the app doesn’t have any new/changed features over the current 32-bit version, but being a 64-bit app, should run much more efficiently on PCs running a 64-bit version of Windows 10 – especially where users regularly need to synchronise larger files. 

Microsoft’s OneDrive team said that “…the 64-bit version is the right choice if you plan to use large files, if you have a lot of files, and if you have a computer that’s running a 64-bit version of Windows.”.

As of today (it’s in preview after all), the OneDrive 64-bit version can only be installed on AMD64 devices, and for now Windows 10 on ARM PCs only support the 32-bit version of the sync client such as the #SurfaceProX

When officially released – expected later this April, the 64-bit version of OneDrive Sync Client will automatically replace the 32-bit version.

If you like betas and early testing, there is a public preview of the OneDrive 64-bit client available here: 

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Poly Sync20+ “Teams Edition “- Hands-on Review

Released at the end of 2020, the Poly Sync 20 and Sync 20 + are personal Bluetooth and USB speakerphones designed for use with Microsoft Teams. Whilst nothing new in terms of form-factor – as other vendors such as Yealink, Jabra, Lenovo etc., all have similar form factor speakers, the quality design and easy to use features make the Sync 20 a great device for home workers, hybrid workers or anyone looking for a stylish, Bluetooth / smart portable speakerphone solution that has been “designed” for Microsoft Teams.

Poly Sync 20 on Desk
The Poly Sync-20

 

The Poly Sync 20 was the first in Poly’s new Sync range of USB and Bluetooth speakerphones. The Sync 20 has two bigger brothers – the Sync 40 and the Sync 60 which are aimed more for use in huddle spaces and smaller to medium sized meeting rooms – The Sync 20 and Sync 40 are available “now” and the Sync 60 is “coming “soon”. This review just looks at the Sync 20.

Poly SYnc Family of Devices

These device types are designed for those people that travel or are on the road often (outside of current COVID restrictions of course) and needing to join Teams Meetings / conference calls either alone or with one or two other people – or as a permanent set-up at the home office.  These personal speakers are great to ensure you have the best audio experience and that those on the other-end can also hear you well – certainly beats using a phone on “speaker phone” – please don’t do that!! 

Speeds and Feeds

The Poly 20 Sync costs circa £160 and measures 34mm x 95mm x 182mm so easily fits in your laptop/Surface bag or pouch.  Like many of its competition, it includes a rechargeable battery that gives about 20 hours of talk time (according to Poly – I didn’t test that) between charges and takes just 4 hours to charge using the attached USB A cable. One nifty thing about the Poly Sync 20, compared to most other similar devices in this category, is that it also doubles up as a portable battery charger allowing you to plug your smart phone or headphones into the Sync 20 to keep your other gadgets charged when working remotely. 

  • Bluetooth / USB Speakerphone
  • Portable Battery Charger
  • Windows 10 Dongle (Sync 20 + version only)

Look and Feel 

The Poly 20 Sync measures 34mm x 95mm x 182mm so easily fits in your laptop/Surface bag or pouch.

As you’d expect from Poly, the Poly Sync 20 is a good-looking device. As you can see from the images above, it has a silver bezel and a high-quality fabric mesh speaker cover. The device is also IP64 rated (meaning it is dust and water-resistant) and comes with its own equally stylish case for storage and protection against scratches etc.

Poly Sync-20 Close Up

On the front of the device, there are familiar buttons for call controls as well as a programmable button that you can use to open a voice assistant, check status, play / pause music etc., (this requires installing the Poly Customisation Software). Since this is a Teams certified device, there is also a dedicated Teams button on the device for instant access to the Teams app, joining a meeting etc.  There’s also a large call status light on the front.

Usability

As expected, the Sync 20 is incredibly easy to get going. I chose to plug mine into my Surface via the USB port. The Sync-20 was instantly recognised by Windows 10 and also showed up in Teams along with the recognition that this was a Teams Certified device.

Screenshot showing Teams recognising a teams Certified device

Pairing to my Samsung phone was also quick and easy and by using the PLT Hub app I could then simply configure the device and was even able to change the voice to British English! 

Performance and Quality

Sound Quality was tested by using my Surface (wired) and phone (via Bluetooth) to play some Spotify hits and some movie content (yes, Star Wars from Disney Plus!). Sound quality was crisp and clear. There was no distortion even with the volume “pumped” all the way up to maximum.  I am no audio expert, but for a portable device – it was loud enough for use in a meeting room, home office / hotel room. 

Bluetooth connectivity works as expected on my mobile device (I didn’t bother pairing it to my Surface since I used the USB-A cable for this and “hate” using a dongle which is needed to use the device as a Teams Certified speaker). 

USB Charging – is a nice to have and it does mean I don’t have to carry multiple devices about – Using the device as a Bluetooth speaker on my Samsung phone, I was able to charge my phone from 54% to 100% whilst playing music from it in less than an hour. 

Summary and Close

In all a great device if you are in the market for a high-quality, Teams certified small portable smart speaker to use with your mobile or laptop/tablet then you won’t be disappointed by the Sync-20. The built-in battery charger is a definite plus point too when working remotely – though there’s not enough power in the USB to charge my Surface Go. 

At ~£160 it’s on par with similar devices in its class and has fantastic build quality. Like most devices, firmware is upgradable via the Poly management apps, but the real test will of course be when I finally return to some form of going out and working in different places. 

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