Ears on with Microsoft's Surface Earbuds: Tapping the cloud for transcription and more

Microsoft’s Surface Headphones probably hitched themselves too closely to Cortana, turning what was an intriguing product into a tchotchke that was handed out at a Surface fan event before Microsoft’s Surface launch started. With Microsoft’s Surface Earbuds, Microsoft seems determined not to make the same mistake.

That’s not a slight against Microsoft. The Headphones offered powerful, selective noise-canceling technologies, but Microsoft positioned them as a Cortana accessory. When Cortana was de-emphasized, down went the Headphones. With the Earbuds, Cortana appears just once on the Earbuds’ one-page product sheet. Instead, the secret sauce is its cloud transcription capabilities, plus what Microsoft is touting as a superior audio solution for apps like Spotify.

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from PCWorld https://ift.tt/2pDElUJ