With the Surface Laptop, Surface Studio, Windows 10 Creators Update, and Cortana-powered Harmon Kardon Invoke smart speaker already out of the bag, what has Microsoft saved for its annual developer show?
Fear not, there are always new Windows 10 updates on the horizon; the software giant committed to a six-month update schedule. And the company has unveiled hardware surprises at its last few press events, like the HoloLens and various Surface form factors.
Here's what we might see when Build 2017 kicks off today.
Project Neon
Project Neon, a new interface design concept that brings to mind Windows 7's translucent features, is getting some buzz. It will make the Windows interface more amenable to new device types such as the HoloLens and the Xbox. At Build, expect new color themes, animations, typography, and effects.
Cortana
New Cortana skills will be one highlight of Build. On PCs, she gets to take advantage of the screen, mouse, and keyboard. But with the aforementioned Harman Kardon Invoke speaker coming, she'll need better support for smart home devices and voice-only operation. Don't expect the smart speaker to be the end of it; one session is about programming for multiple device categories.
Microsoft Store
The Windows 10 Store isn't just for apps. It also sells movies, music, and TV shows. To let developers monetize on the Store, the Microsoft Store Services SDK is intended to increase engagement with its Universal Windows Platform apps, allowing push notifications, feedback, and A/B testing.
Azure
Microsoft's cloud strategy has become central to the business-focused company. Developers at the conference can expect to hear about Azure Container Services, Azure DocumentDB, and machine learning advances. Connecting Windows IoT Core devices with Azure IoT is the focus of one session, and Satya Nadella has suggested that "edge" computing and distributed computing should loom large, according to Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley.
Visual Studio and Windows Bridge
Every Build includes new capabilities in Microsoft's integrated developer environment, Visual Studio. I expect to hear more about Windows Bridge, which enables developers to port iOS apps to Windows Universal platform apps by reusing about 80 percent of the Apple code. We may hear more about porting Android apps as well. Bridge seemed to fall off the radar for a while, but I recently got a look at an impressive result from the technology, the Algoriddim djay Pro app, which lets DJs take advantage of the big Windows touch screen and the Surface Dial.
More VR
At $3,000 and with a focus on developers, the HoloLens mixed-reality headset isn't yet a mass-market device. At last summer's Computex, Microsoft announced that partners like Acer, Asus, and HTC could get in on the game and offer Windows Holographic experiences at closer to the $300 price point. We saw Acer's version at a recent press event, and we may hear more at Build.
More Apps and Services for Other Platforms
Microsoft has delivered a surprising number of apps for competing platforms, namely iOS and Android. Robust versions of Cortana, Office, Skype, and other apps are already available on those platforms, and there's no reason to think this trend won't continue. In some cases, the company has put out apps on the competitors' platforms before its own, such as the Pix iOS photo app. Satya Nadella has even famously showed off his "business iPhone" loaded with Office and other Microsoft apps.
Who Knows?
Though technically these conferences exist to train developers in new coding techniques, surprises are common. A Surface Phone? Unlikely, but not impossible. Microsoft would do well to jumpstart its flagging mobile platform strategy, especially since a goal of Windows 10 is to run on all device types and sizes.