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Microsoft Hardware Technology

Dell's New Monitors Have a Dedicated Microsoft Teams Button (theverge.com) 115

Posted by BeauHD from the innovation-at-its-finest dept.
Dell is launching three new monitors next month, and all of them come with a dedicated Microsoft Teams button. The Verge reports: Dell claims it has created the "world's first video conferencing monitors certified for Microsoft Teams," after Microsoft started certifying displays, webcams, and headsets last year. Three monitors will be available next month, all offering quick access to Microsoft Teams. The button will let Microsoft Teams users quickly launch the app to make and receive video calls. Hands-free commands will also be supported through Cortana and the built-in microphone.

The Teams button is the main surprise with these displays, but Dell's trio of videoconferencing monitors also have some useful specs designed for an era where remote work and video calling is key. Each includes a 5-megapixel pop-up infrared camera, which supports facial recognition with Windows Hello. Dell also bundles a noise-canceling microphone and dual 5-watt integrated speakers. There's even a built-in mode to reduce blue light emissions. Dell is launching a 24-inch (FHD) version for $519.99, a 27-inch (QHD) model for $719.99, and a curved 34-inch (WQHD) variant for $1,149.99. All three will launch on February 16th. In other Dell-related news, the company has announced new versions of its Latitude laptops with Intel's new 11th Gen vPro chips and new features like an automated, integrated webcam shutter to physically block your camera when it's not in use.
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Dell's New Monitors Have a Dedicated Microsoft Teams Button

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  • Does it come with an skip windows update button (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @07:35PM (#60901278)

    Does it come with an skip windows update button??
    Man this is an big 1M sales call I can't update now.

    • Anyone buying this monitor that isn't 100% in control of their Windows updates need to fire their entire IT department. ... Or find out who hacked their WSUS server.

  • ...I'm all for it! Put a Ctrl-Alt-Delete, BSOD, and Bing button on while at it. (Probably the same thing anyhow.)

  • Ugh. Like, gag me with a running chainsaw! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Chas ( 5144 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @07:44PM (#60901296) Homepage Journal

    Are people so stupid they REALLY need a Teams button?

    REALLY?

    • Re:Ugh. Like, gag me with a running chainsaw! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Jeremi ( 14640 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @07:50PM (#60901310) Homepage

      Since when has Microsoft (and let's face it, this is Microsoft buying space on Dell's products) based their decisions on what people need?

      This is all about what Microsoft needs: to make Microsoft Teams ubiquitous and thereby crush Slack.

      • Microsoft needs to just buy Slack. Shut that turd down and put Stewart back to work at Tiny Speck as a Microsoft employee..

        Get to work Stoot. You're done dilly dallying with crap.

        Glitch [wikipedia.org] would make a great addition to the X-Box Game collection.

    • Re:Ugh. Like, gag me with a running chainsaw! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Known Nutter ( 988758 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @08:19PM (#60901374)
      My company, like most I'm sure, is all in on Teams, thanks to COVID, obviously. I rather like Teams for what it is and I think COVID pushed our company (again, like others) into video conferencing where we really wouldn't have done so without it. We're all about it. Love it. We don't need a goddamn Teams button on the Monitor. The little Teams icon in the taskbar is more than sufficient.

      • It seemed pretty crap when the company I worked for last year started using Teams, although it was strictly the text features and not video conferencing.

        I used Pidgin in a work context 6 years ago, I think with the XMPP protocol, I would much rather use that or even Telegram if it absolutely had to be something people could throw on their trackphones that had a hip-looking interface.

        Hell, even Skype was better, but admittedly I haven't used that since 2012, which is I think about the time MS bought it.

        • Teams is still pretty crap. It has potential, but Microsoft pushed it out before it's really ready. On the Mac at least it is badly integrated, it won't show notifications using normal Mac notifications, and you won't see the Teams notifications unless you are looking at the screen that has Teams (maybe Microsoft forgets that many people use multiple virtual screens). If you miss the beep, then it's likely you can miss your meeting. Plus once every week or two I need to shut it down and restart it becau

          • My condolences for having to deal with Microsoft on top of Apple. That's like arsenic sauce on a turd sandwich.

            Where I was, the workstations were a mixed environment where some ran Windows 7 and some were a new flat-UI variant, not sure if it was Windows 8 or 10, I upgraded in my last month there when I was already warming down to quit and never bothered to discern which one. But I do remember I checked Teams a few times on the new OS, and it wasn't any better. It's not about Teams' UI being inconsistent wi

            • At what point did an OS agnostic monitor become obsolete? This reminds me too much of those keyboards with special "Internet" and "Mail" keys that would automatically open up Internet Explorer or Outlook Express if you pushed them, but only if you installed the necessary drivers. Worthless stuff that didn't last long that no one used, and even the intended audience who didn't understand computers were being taught to just point and click and not touch the keyboard...

              Maybe the earlier commentary was accura

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Malc ( 1751 )

            Are the Teams notifications still coming up behind the native notifications? Not only are they harder to see than native ones, they've even attempted to hide them anyway!

            What is it with Microsoft implementing shit they don't need to and behaving differently to native platform apps? Did they hire some of the "UI" people who worked on GIMP?

            • Right-clicking on words doesn't bring up the macOS menu to look things up, etc. Some crap integrated with Bing with no preview that goes off to your browser. No built

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by chihowa ( 366380 )

              Even on Windows: the text boxes aren't native and use a different half-baked spellchecker, etc. The notifications aren't native and are often not noticed.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by EvilSS ( 557649 )
                Windows native notifications are coming. I think they are in preview now. Still dumb they didn't at least give the option to use them before now.

            • Notifications show up only on the screen that Teams is on, and then they vanish after a few seconds.

              Microsoft seems to act a lot like a small company. They hire random people, hope their resume is accurate, then find out they're not very good at their jobs but assign them to customer visible actions anyway. So, bad software design, developers who think they know more than they do (I know how dates work, I know how wide characters work, I spent 12 seconds looking at an i18n page, I know how keyboard layout

        • Signal does group video chat now.
          No need to use (unencrypted) Telegram.

        • Nice to see XMPP and Pidgin get some love. We use it at our company, where we also use G Suite or as it is now called Google Workspace. We don't like Google's chat solution because it treats your contacts like cell phone contacts - always available. You can't tell by looking at your buddy list if someone is in the office or not.
          Obviously we have the technology to send someone a message that they can get later, but to us that defeats the purpose of "instant message" so to Google's in-browser UI we say pound

      • The little Teams icon in the taskbar is more than sufficient.

        Are you some kind of a monster that hates automation and shortcuts? Why have keys at all, there's an onscreen keyboard right? I personally demand users that they *have* to open up Teams in the way that I decide. We should prevent teams from responding to anything other than being clicked on in the taskbar! I'm with you. Who else is with us! Let's chant our battle cry:

        No shortcuts
        No shortcuts
        No shortcuts.

        *tab* *enter* NO NO NO wait. I'm sorry. *grabs mouse and clicks continue editing* *use mouse to hit previ

      • I wonder if you'll be able to do something else with it, or the only options will be Teams, or disable. Like that super useful Bixby button everyone raves about.

        Although I can't think of anything useful I'd want to do with a button that you have to reach up to the monitor to press all the time. If you were going to put a button like this anywhere, why not your branded keyboards???

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • You think that's stupid? I have a windows button on my keyboard, and it actually does something in Linux. Who is Linux pretending to be. Why do we even have buttons!

      Who am I controlling when I hit control?
      Why does my hair not die itself blue when I hit alt?

      This post brought to you by 104 buttons. Because that's how many it takes to point out how stupid you are for attempting to call out other people for being stupid simply because they have a shortcut button.

    • Look at the bright side: if this becomes commonplace, it'll be repurposed for something usetul in serious operating systems, like the Win keyboard key has been. I'm all for more input options for free, even if it bears a Microsoft logo.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It's like the stupid Netflix button on your remote. It's an ad, it's not there to help you access the service.

      The one on my Nvidia shield pisses me off and makes me not want to subscribe to Netflix. It's right in the way, too easy to press by mistake. It can be disable for some reason that breaks the BBC iPlayer app. Maybe I should just stop watching the BBC.

      • It's like the stupid Netflix button on your remote. It's an ad, it's not there to help you access the service.

        Roku's remote also says hi!

    • Yeah, I hate stuff like this.

      Why a Teams button? Why not an Outlook button, or a File Explorer button? Is Microsoft so bad at building UIs that they can’t come up with a way to launch applications in software?

      When I buy hardware that I intend on keeping for years, I don’t want the design to be determined by what Microsoft’s marketing team believes will make me use the product that they’re pushing this month. I want something generic and future-proof, so it’ll continue to

  • Oh good just like my Microsoft Lifecam Studio with the button on it to launch MSN Messenger? Sounds like another button that will be useless soon, or make my product obsolete before it's time.

  • All I'd like is a friggin' on/off button for my phone. If we can get a Teams button, can I get a button that simply turns off my phone no matter what app I'm in?!

    --
    You go around the circle to sanity, and on the other end of the circle, close to insanity, but not insanity, is unsanity. - Sidney Cohen

  • Why? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by peragrin ( 659227 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @08:12PM (#60901368)

    If your company is using teams then the app is open all time anyway to receive notifications and calls. Thus rendering the button useless.

    If you aren't using teams then a dedicated button is useless.

    So what is the point?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mfearby ( 1653 )

      Agreed. It'll never be used except maybe in some pointless demonstration.

    • If your company is using teams then the app is open all time anyway to receive notifications and calls. Thus rendering the button useless.

      If you aren't using teams then a dedicated button is useless.

      So what is the point?

      You're forgetting the 15 times a day your computer bluescreens, decides to install Windows Updates, or some other stupid app can't update files so it needs to reboot. Of course Teams might just crash on its own too--so you'll be hammering the hell out of the button...

    • Oh no, this wasn't put in to be useful for users, it was put in so Dell could extract money from Microsoft and a manager there could collect a fat bonus.

    • I suspect every so mildly useful, to the point of being trivially useful, when you have full screen apps all the time. Thus a light or button or some element that says "yes, I know you can hear voices still but I'm reminding you that you're still in a meeting in the background so don't make any funny bathroom noises!" And I suspect there are still clueless people at Microsoft that think people use their stupid Windows 10 full screen apps on their 4K 32" monitors instead of the desktop.

      But no, people with

    • It's like a marketing sticker, except they made it a button.

    • Thus rendering the button useless.

      If it's anything like the teams button on other devices it will allow you to answer calls without unlocking your PC. Quite useful when you've been slacking off at the TV and suddenly hear the home office PC ring.

  • Gross (Score:3)

    by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @08:31PM (#60901396)

    >"Dell is launching three new monitors next month, and all of them come with a dedicated Microsoft Teams button"

    Gross. Good thing I have no interest in Dell equipment!

  • Why have a Teams button when you can have a pr0n button instead?

    • "Teams" isn't a pr0n server already?

      No, seriously. I've literally never used it, so I don't know. But if it is so widespread then of course someone has worked out how to make it serve pr0n.

      In fact, I can work out the USP already : select one of your windows for (say) that bitch from Human Remains, and the Pr0nTeam add-in (see, it's got a name already) searches pr0nTube (you know what I mean) for video of someone similar-looking getting done doggy-style by a Gloucester Old Spot, and overlays the DeepFaked

      • I'm thinking more of a Boss Key implementation that flips between pr0n, Desktop, and Teams.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

        • Uh, why? Most of the point of Teams and it's X-alikes is for working from home/ remote location, so it's not as if the Boss is going to loom over your shoulder unexpectedly. The beer waiter with a photo-book of his "sisters" (or "brothers", if that boats your float), maybe. But the worst that's going to do is disturb your concentration.

          • Oh, I like your idea. I have kids at home and my wife isn't going to appreciate Teams meeting deepfakes of my female coworkers. Its one of those choose your battles things.

            Its funny, I still go to the office. We social distance by having meetings from our desks on Teams, while wearing masks. Such joy. The boss could be walking by, or one of my coworkers that does not sit at a desk all day.

            Clearly we agree that the button should be configurable. Pr0nTeam should support the button, perhaps as enable/disable.

  • ...with their now-obsolete 'RadIO' button on their remotes. Another bad idea destined for ignominy.

    Yes, I know. Dell is taking the cash and running with it to the bank.

  • I have a couple of Dell U2412M (1920x1200). I hope they last for a LOOOONG time, because I don't see any replacements.

    They are good for daily use, with the extra vertical real estate, but for multimedia work they are almost priceless. Being able to have a full-screen 1920x1080 AND room for controls on the same screen saves a tremendous amount of head turning and lifting (side by side or vertically stacked monitors).

    I would buy a new 3840x2400 (24 inch to 32 inch) tomorrow, if I could find one, even if it

    • I would buy a new 3840x2400 (24 inch to 32 inch) tomorrow, if I could find one

      Just go to Costco or Walmart and buy a 4K TV.

      Years ago, a dedicated computer monitor had a faster response time and better pixel density. That is no longer true. The only difference between a modern TV and a "monitor" is the price.

      My "computer monitor" is a 60-inch 4K TV from Costco. I can display 8 letter-sized pages with no overlap. I paid $329.

      • A 4K television is going to be 3840x2160. It's also going to be huge, since they don't make smaller 4K televisions. I have a 4K 24" monitor. I don't want a big honking 60" TV on my desk. Well, maybe if it was one of the 8K televisions.

        I actually don't know of any 16:10 3840x2400 (such as used by the IBM T221) monitors still in production. There's a handful of 4096x2160 monitors out there, which I assume are aimed at the cinema market since movies actually use a slightly wider than 16:9 ratio. They are

        • A 4K television is going to be 3840x2160. It's also going to be huge, since they don't make smaller 4K televisions. I have a 4K 24" monitor.

          Walmart has 32" 4K TVs. Is that small enough?

    • DUDE, the new XPS13 and precision 5550 laptops came with 1920x1200 SCREENS AGAIN. I was so fucking mad after they dropped 1920x1200 after the pM90 and have had a half dozen 1920x1080 displays since then.

  • Those of you old enough... (Score:3)

    by Hans Lehmann ( 571625 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @08:45PM (#60901440)
    ...may remember the period, in the early 90's as I recall, when computer keyboards were sold the had extra buttons on them to open Internet Explorer, or an email application, or other such nonsense. I expect this feature to last about as long as those did.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by toddz ( 697874 )
      Those buttons lasted too long, I hope for a quicker demise.
    • Early 90's? What do you have against same day shipping [logitech.com]?

    • Actually, that was more of a late 90's - early 2000's thing.

      I've found that if you dig up one of these keyboards, most of the buttons will still work with Windows 10, though the IE button most likely will load up Edge by default.

    • I had some machine that came with a keyboard with a crescent moon key. I pressed it and was disappointed when no outhouse appeared.
      • Here in Finland, traditional outhice have heart-shaped holes on their doors. So you can imagine how we feel about getting those "like" emojis on social media.

    • 2020 keyboard here. Mine still has buttons to open up browsers, mail, search, errr.. there's three other buttons there that I don't know what they do. Comically I have an "eject" button too although I've not had a computer with a CD drive this decade. I do actively use my brightness buttons, my play, stop, back, and forward buttons a lot though.

      So what you're saying is you expect the teams button to be here still in 30 years after Microsoft has abandoned teams? That actually is quite a likely outcome.

      • I've been using various Microsoft Natural keyboards for a few decades now. I don't think I ever used the web, search, or mail buttons. The favorites buttons I did use for a short time, but no longer. The volume buttons have always been useful. But the one extra button I use all the time is the calculator button. It's right there by the numeric keypad that I'll be using to enter my calculation, so it makes total sense (at least to me).

    • a button to open the control panel would be nice since they keep hiding it
    • I can see some justification for that in the 90s as most consumers getting computers back then had no idea how to launch applications. If the buttons could be remapped to another application like IE button to Netscape that made sense for the computer weary. "Grandma, just press this button to get your browser . . ." Some other buttons were actually very useful like volume up and skip for your MP3 player. Those makes sense on a keyboard. I have no idea why you would need a button for an application on a moni

    • I remember when mice had three buttons, and no other controls on the top or sides. For scrolling a page, you had a lot of options: (a) arrow keys, (b) PgUp/PgDn, (c) dragging the scrollbar (or the page itself) with the mouse. To me, a scroll wheel is a bit like those IE/email keys. It also makes middle clicking much harder, so it actually gets in the way of doing unixy things.

      I get the impression that everything that we used to do on keyboards is moving to dedicated appliance buttons and knobs on mice, a

  • Each includes a 5-megapixel pop-up infrared camera, which supports facial recognition with Windows Hello. Dell also bundles a noise-canceling microphone and dual 5-watt integrated speakers.

    Does it come with a hardware off switch for the camera and microphone? (TFA doesn't say)
    'Cause, otherwise, no sale. (Ignoring the unwanted and stupid "Teams" button and Cortana integration.)

    • Your very quote says pop-up. Which (usually) means if you pop it back down it physically can’t see you. So not only in the article, but actually in your quote!

      • Your very quote says pop-up. Which (usually) means if you pop it back down it physically can’t see you. So not only in the article, but actually in your quote!

        True, but it could still be on while not popped-up -- obviously, it *shouldn't* see anything like that, but that's not definitive at the moment and it says it's also IR so it could see heat through whatever it's in... Furthermore, what if it pops up on its own and/or the latch gets broken and won't stay down ...

        Just sayin' a dedicated HW switch would be nice.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by EvilSS ( 557649 )

          True, but it could still be on while not popped-up -- obviously, it *shouldn't* see anything like that, but that's not definitive at the moment and it says it's also IR so it could see heat through whatever it's in

          That's not how IR cameras work. Despite TV and movies pretending otherwise, thermal cameras can't see through most materials. All you can see is the surface temp of the material you are looking at, or for highly IR reflective surfaces like glass you will see reflections from your side of the glass. So if the camera is on, it could only see the IR emissions from the plastic or whatever is in front of it. Even if you pressed your face against the monitor where the camera is, your "image" would most likely be

  • Sorry, boss (Score:3)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @09:05PM (#60901514)

    Every time I'm asked to join a Teams conference, I mess up and hit the power button instead.

  • It's more like a faint impression on a flat panel that's probably going to be annoying to anyone who prefers a little tactile feedback in their buttons.

  • Product placement (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 ) on Tuesday January 05, 2021 @10:27PM (#60901702) Homepage

    Dell isn't doing this because customers want it, or because they think it will be helpful to their customers. It's paid product placement, pure and simple.

    • Nah it's standard business integration through devices. I'm not sure why this surprises anyone. What with Lync phones or Skype for Business products or whatever the damn things have been called through history. These business apps have always had products with dedicated buttons for functionality, not so different than my keyboard at home having dedicated buttons for controlling music playback.

      Hell my Dell monitor had not only *two* dedicated Lync buttons but was also the place I plugged in my headset, and t

  • Who can come up with creative ideas of what that button should be remapped to?

  • my Ubuntu 20.04 LTS workstation just because it has a Dell monitor or 2 well 3? Odd!
  • I appreciate the convenience of the built in webcam and speakers; but those prices are...bold...to say the least. 24in 1920x1080 displays start at just over $100 for the cheap seats; and even the nice options are typically under $300 or so. The 27in model is around double what I've recently been quoted for a monitor of the same size and resolution that includes USB-C power delivery for 'dock' capability; ones without that are sometimes available for a trifle less.

    I guess if you really hate cables, or the

    • It's probably aimed at Enterprise, where you always pay substantially more for substantially less. I think it's a law or something.

      At my last job, they bought us $500 HP monitors to replace the Dell monitors we had (nevermind what they spent on actual computers themselves just to switch vendors!). My HP monitors were essentially like-in-kind replacements for my Dells (size, resolution, refresh rates, etc.), but over twice the price, new. I still can't fathom why they spent over $1000 on two basic 24" FHD

  • They should include a free CueCat. That way you can just scan the barcode on your forehead to begin the meeting.
    • I received one unsolicited (probably Forbes magazine), read the license "agreement", looked around to see if anyone was looking, and tossed it in the trash without bringing it into the house.

  • They always sucked on the teet of Microsoft, Intel, and typically, both.

  • Let the users customize it!

  • How does it work? (Score:3)

    by fph il quozientatore ( 971015 ) on Wednesday January 06, 2021 @03:30AM (#60902254)
    How does it work, technically? On the HDMI interface? Or does it need a separate cable? Does it need to hack the protocol, or is this kind of things normally supported by HDMI? Does it send a normal keypress event that one can map and reassign at the keyboard level? Will it be possible to remap it on Linux?
    • HDMI has a protocol for passing remote control signals from the display to the source. So it's quite plausible that it could be used for that button (but not for the webcam). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

    • These Dell Business monitors almost always have a USB hub with ports built in. My guess is that USB cable will have to be plugged in.

    • from Dell's PR site - the monitor is a USB-C hub with a webcam, and ethernet built in. Beginning-Middle-and-End of story. . In all likelihood, the "Teams" button is sending out the equivalent of "Windows-T" to get Win10 to launch teams. The marketing implies that the Monitor is in someway "special" for accessing Teams. Its not. Its just a monitor / hub. There are no 'smarts' inside to do anything. The whole "hey cortana" is coming from the computer connected to the monitor. Like every other webcam setup i

  • I've had to use basically every conferencing software out there, in the past months. Teams is probably the most comfortable, and provided Windows/Mac/Linux versions. I just wish those versions would stay in sync. It's really irritating for different people on different platforms to have different features available to them. Assuming a decent architecture, it really doesn't even make sense - it ought to be relatively easy to push features on all versions at the same time.

    Those of us on the technical side of

  • Sure..... (Score:2)

    by bano ( 410 )

    More future useless app specific buttons that can't be reprogrammed like my roku remote. yay

  • Once you have a 4k monitor, you never want to do without. Unless you can get your hands on a 5k monitor...

  • Everybody has to subsidize ms now.

  • Look, I use Teams every day. My company tried out Mattermost and Slack, but we're a big old corporation that is already in the Microsoft ecosystem, so we use Teams because it's 'free'. It's fine. It's not the best, but they update it faster and more often than any other piece of Microsoft software I've ever used.

    But hardware should never have any buttons for anything that are specific to a single App. Not even Apple hardware does that. Hardware being tied to specific apps just means twice as many things to

  • Seriously, took me a couple of days to clean these office computers of that crap. I'm glad they're integrating into the hardware, that's fine I have a screwdriver.

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