According to a recent report from Petri, Microsoft is about to introduce new webcams. If the rumors are true, expect a new webcam reveal during the Surface Spring event alongside the updated Surface Laptop 4.
Microsoft is not new to the webcam market. The company is well-known for its LifeCam brand that offers reliable cameras with different price tags. Still, these webcams are extremely outdated now. In fact, the latest LifeCam webcam from Microsoft is now 10 years old. Sure, there is no need to fix what is not broken, but this rule does not apply to webcams during the pandemic time. Although LifeCam cameras offer solid image quality, they need to have modern features, new sensors, etc.
There is not that much information about what new webcams from Microsoft are going to offer. According to Petri, new models will introduce privacy covers and HDR support. It is also unknown whether there would be 4K resolution support or Windows Hello for biometric authentication. Sources say users should not expect 4K image resolution support.
Panos Panay, Microsoft's chief product officer, said the company plans to release a consumer-facing webcam back in 2018. Then, Panay said Microsoft “can bring a high-fidelity camera,” and users “can probably guess that is going to happen.” In 2019, Thurrott mentioned two new webcams from Microsoft, one aimed at Windows and another at Xbox. Unfortunately, these plans never materialized. Perhaps, for some reason, Microsoft had to change the schedule and delay the new webcam release. We can only hope that this time the company will be able to introduce new devices. These will be a nice addition to the available set of webcams from other manufacturers when everyone still needs to work and study from home.
We do not know when Microsoft will introduce new webcams. This event should happen this Spring. Besides the latest cameras, Microsoft is expected to announce its fourth-generation Surface Laptop. This time, the computer will offer AMD and Intel processors in both 13-inch and 15-inch configurations. You can learn more about what is coming with Surface Laptop 4 in this post.
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