Surface Pro 2's get discounted in the US as Surface Pro 3 ship dates slide

US buyers who are on the fence about the Surface Pro 3 can now consider its predecessor, the Surface Pro 2 at a discounted price. According to ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley, some Surface Pro 2 models sold in the U.S. have been reduced by $100 each and others by $200.

The 64 GB, Core i5-based Surface Pro 2, for example, is now $799 instead of $899 and  the highest end 512 GB model is now $1,599 instead of $1,799. When the original Surface and Surface Pro were discounted in the US, Canada soon followed suit.

Why would someone opt for the SP2 instead of the newer, thinner, larger and more flexible Surface Pro 3? Well, they share the same Intel Haswell processors for one thing so battery life is pretty good. The older Surfaces also have that Wacom digitizer which has 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity compared to the newer N-trig digitizer used in the Surface Pro 3 which only has 256, that's a pretty dramatic downgrade for artists. 

In other Surface Pro 3 related news, it seems that while some lucky preorders have shipped, the shipping date for some models of the Surface Pro 3 has been moved from June 20 to June 30th, possibly because of constrained supplies.

Source: ZDNet

Google brings premium Google+ features for Apps customers

Google aims to entice more enterprise and business users to use its Apps services with new Google+ “premium” features. App customers will have access to HD-quality hangouts and they can invite up to 15 people per session. These users also have more control over their privacy settings including restricting their domain to being visible only to employees and colleagues as well as hide their profiles from public searches.

Source: The Next Web

Microsoft developing passive voice activation for Cortana

Looks like Microsoft is keen on bringing Cortana up to par with Google’s and Apple’s own digital personal assistants with the new features they are throwing in. Marcus Ash, the group program manager for Cortana on Windows Phone, tweeted that their team is currently working on passive voice activation for their service. This would mean you no longer have to hold the search button or tap on the live tile to activate Cortana. You would just need a voice command like when you say “Ok, Google” for Google Now or "Hey Siri," for iOS 8.

Something to think about as we design voice activation for #Cortana. Don't want Jesse sending texts on your behalf. http://t.co/Vq4uXB0P6q

— Marcus Ash (@marcusash) June 17, 2014

Source: Ubergizmo

Sharp introduces new AQUOS BOARD interactive displays

If you work in the creative field or need more tools for collaboration, Sharp has introduced at new line of interactive displays for boardrooms and even video conferences. The AQUOS BOARD allows for up to 10 points of contact and up to four people writing simultaneously on the screen using either their fingers or the Sharp touch pens. It can push content directly to connected mobile devices and a faster touch response rate of up to 200 times per second for nearly zero delay as possible. There is also an anti-glare film that helps reduce reflections and glare and minimize fingerprint marks on the board.

The AQUOS BOARD is available in 70-inch and 60-inch and has to two configurations users can choose depending on their requirements. The PN-L703B and PN-L603B are open-platform models that need an external PC. This will allow users to run any Microsoft Windows-based applications on the AQUOS BOARD. Meanwhile, the PN-L703A and PN-L603A come equipped with Sharp Pen Software and Touch Display Link 2 functionality so users will no longer need an external PC to operate the device. The PN-L703B and PN-L603B are currently available at authorized Sharp distributors and dealers, while the PN-L703A and PN-L603A will be available in the summer of 2014.