Color me jealous
It’s not often that I have tech envy. I love Apple and everything that comes with it. I love the interconnectivity of my iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and that I can receive calls on my laptop when my phone is in the other room. Window’s Surface Studio, and new Surface Dial, however, awakened the green monster. Part of me wants to trash all my Siri gear and trade it in for Windows just so I can twist that tactical dial to change my paintbrush color in Photoshop.
Set Dial to stun
The Surface Studio is more like an easel than anything else. It angles towards the user, creating the same position an artist or draftsman seeks when working with actual pen and paper. The real genius, though, comes with the Surface Dial, an intuitive little puck that talks to apps on and off the touch screen.
A turn of it can change the volume, your paint color, zoom into documents, increase the protrusion of a 3D model, and a million other things. Though it’s designed mostly to work with Surface Studio, it’s certainly most versatile with their new all-in-one PC. The Dial also works with tons of apps in older PCs including Spotify, and Word.
Put your left hand in…
The Surface Dial works differently when it’s on and off the touch screen. When placed on the screen, an intuitive menu pops up, and with a twist of your hand you can work seamlessly, engaging with your touch screen in unprecedented ways. Both hands are completely engaged, so your dominant hand can do the dirty work, while your other hand picks colors, zooms in, and scrolls. When removed, a digital version is available on-screen.
This is the perfect tool for designers and artists, and anyone else who feels like their weaker hand doesn’t have enough to do while browsing Facebook.
Get one for around $100
The Surface Dial starts at around 100 bucks and is sold separately from Surface Studio. A firmware update should be available in the next few months so this adaptable puck can be used on the screens of any other Surface products (pro and book).
Microsoft’s impressive innovations are sure to bring in artists and designers alike. This Apple fan is surely intrigued.
#surfacedial
