Category: Hardware

A few weeks ago, there were rumors on the Internet that Microsoft and Seagate are teamed up to release a 512GB memory expansion card for the Xbox Series X|S game consoles. Moreover, advertisements for new devices were found in two French retail stores.

On September 22, 2021, Microsoft announced a second-gen Surface Duo. The smartphone with a somewhat unconventional design received plenty of much-needed improvements: the latest CPU from Qualcomm, 5G support, NFC, screens with 90Hz refresh rate, bigger batteries, etc. Surface Duo 2 runs Android 11 out of the box, and Microsoft promises to deliver Android 12 soon.

Despite reports of Microsoft planning to release Android 11 for the original Surface Duo "this Summer," Microsoft failed to deliver a proper Android upgrade for its quirky dual-screen smartphone. Traditional Android smartphones are now on track to receive Android 12, but the original Surface Duo remains hopelessly stuck with Android 10 for more than a year after the initial release. Microsoft now says those owning the original Surface Duo should expect the company to release Android 11 "before the end of the year."

So, the annual Microsoft Surface event is over (but you can check its highlights on YouTube). The Redmond software giant introduced a bunch of new devices, including Surface Pro 8, Surface Laptop Studio, Surface Duo 2, Surface Go 3, Surface Pro X, and a number of new accessories. Here are the devices announced today.

Back in June 2021, NVIDIA released its first WHQL Game Ready driver with official Windows 11 support. That release, alongside subsequent updates, let users with Windows 11 preview builds utilize optimized GPU drivers and get better performance. With Windows 11 being just two weeks from public availability, NVIDIA released a new driver with the official support for the initial Windows 11 release on October 5, 2021.

On September 22, Microsoft will reveal new Surface hardware, such as redesigned eight-gen Surface Pro, third-gen Surface Go, second-gen Surface Duo, and a new powerful laptop to replace Surface Book. As is usually the case, last-minute leaks shed light. Just a couple of days before the event, Surface Pro 8 specs leak, revealing some exciting hardware upgrades in the next flagship tablet from Microsoft.

It is a well-known fact that Surface Duo's hardware is underwhelming at best. The smartphone went on sale with an old CPU, no NFC, no wireless charging, and an atrocious camera. It takes a lot of faith in the idea behind Surface Duo to accept all those limitations and deal with poor software support (the smartphone remains stuck with Android 10 despite Microsoft's promises to deliver Android 11 this Summer). Still, despite a somewhat rocky start, Microsoft does not plan to give up on Surface Duo. A couple of days before the official unveiling, an FCC listing revealed huge hardware improvements coming in the second-gen Surface Duo.

A little less than a month before Microsoft ships Windows 11 to the public, AMD joins Intel and NVIDIA with its latest drivers for the newest operating system from Microsoft. Now AMD users can install Windows 11-optimized chipset and GPU drivers for improved compatibility and performance.

After releasing new firmware for the third-gen Surface Book several days ago, Microsoft pushed another set of patches, this time for Surface Go 2.

Updates for Xbox controllers are not that frequent when compared to software updates for Windows or Xbox. Still, sometimes, Microsoft releases new firmware to improve connectivity, fix bugs, or even add new features to existing hardware. For example, Microsoft plans to add Bluetooth Low Energy for reduced latency and multi-device support to existing Xbox Wireless Controllers with Bluetooth. To get those features, you need to update firmware on Xbox Wireless Controller.