Microsoft may launch its own webcams

Rumoured 4K webcams will include USB-C and bring Windows Hello support to all devices

Microsoft is reportedly preparing to launch its own line of external webcams next year with the goal of bringing Windows Hello facial recognition to all computers running Windows 10.

Paul Thurrott initially reported that the software giant is currently developing a new 4K camera for both its PCs as well as its Xbox One gaming console.

The cameras for Windows 10 will enable facial recognition on all Windows 10 PCs. As of now, the feature is only available on devices with built-in webcams such as Microsoft's own Surface line.

The new devices may even sport Surface branding and they could allow users to log in to their systems using only their faces.

USB-C webcam

There also appears to be a connection between Microsoft's new webcams and the one it had previously said would be available with the next version of its Surface Hub. The Surface Hub 2 is expected to arrive in 2019 and the device will include a USB-C port.

In an interview with The Verge back in October, the head of the company's Surface unit, Panos Panay suggested Microsoft could soon release a USB-C webcam, saying:

"Look at the camera on Surface Hub 2, note it's a USB-C-based camera, and the idea that we can bring a high fidelity camera to experience, you can probably guess that's going to happen."

Microsoft has made great strides recently in its push for password-less sign in using Windows Hello and the October Update to Windows 10 brought support for WebAuthn-based authentication which could soon be utilized to let users sign into sites such as Office 365 using security keys.



SOURCE: