“The tech industry defines itself by answering the question of what’s next. Over the course of this year, I’ve grown increasingly convinced that the most immediate next wave of technological change won’t be the electric autonomous car or the full-frame mirrorless camera, but something a lot more quotidian,” Vlad Savov writes for The Verge. “Our headphones are about to change dramatically, and Microsoft just put an accelerant into the furnace of change with its new Surface Headphones.”
“Microsoft’s voice assistant will play a major role in the upcoming confrontation between America’s tech giants. Apple’s Siri and Google’s Assistant already have headphone homes in the form of the AirPods and Pixel Buds, respectively, and Apple has been rumored to be building high-end over-ear headphones exactly of the sort Microsoft just announced,” Savov writes. “Outside of their own branded hardware, Google has previously worked with companies on ‘Made for Google’ headphones, and both Siri and Google Assistant have been all over the most recent wave of wireless headphone upgrades.”
“For Microsoft, the Surface Headphones represent a chance to reclaim some of its lost preeminence in consumer tech,” Savov writes. “With smart Skype and Cortana integration, these headphones can act as a natural extension of the Windows 10 experience, and thus it can build at least a little bit of a moat around Microsoft’s products.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’re going to run right out to get Microsoft headphones – right after we order some General Electric pancake mix.
