Windows 10 Launch: Cortana, Spartan, Windows Phone 10 - As it happened

Aaaaaaaand that's that from Microsoft....Windows 10, Cortana, Project Spartan, Surface Hub, HoloLens and more. You can read all about it by clicking the links at the top of this page.

Thanks for tuning in to our inaugural live blog using our new system and we'll see you all soon....using out holographic computers no doubt.

Terry Myerson is back on stage for a recap, talking about its Build conference later this year and saying Windows 10 will be launched "later this year" which isn't very helpful...

Satya Nadella signs off by saying "We wants Windows 10 to be the most loved version of Windows yet."

Nadella now telling us his personal Windows story, becasue that's what we need 2 hours and 15 minutes into a presentation...

Nadella outlining how Windows is going to be at the heart of everything Microsoft is going to do for the next decade. "There is nothing subtle about this approach, it is practical."

Satya Nadella says Microsoft wants to go from people needing Windows to wanting Windows to eventually loving Windows. Windows 10 built for a world where there will be more devices on the planet than people. Windows 10 built for a world where you are not consuming lots of data but you are generating it.

"Windows 10 ushers in a era of more personal computing in a mobile first, cloud first world."

Anyway, with HoloLens out of the way, CEO Satya Nadella is out on stage...

As Tom Morgan pointed out on Twitter, Microsoft calling this a holographic system and not augmented reality is odd considering to see any of the interface you need to be wearing a headset

We're now getting a live demo of the HoloLens, using HoloStudio to create a hologram of a quadcopter. There are voice and gesture controls being used simultaneously.

However, the poor woman giving the demo looks ridiculous when we can't see the interface...

Personally I can't see the appeal of strapping on a big pair of goggles to see a weather update or take a Skype call...

Microsoft showing a video of developers talking about HoloLens and how it is the next computing platform...

That was science fiction, and now we're bringing it into science fact.

These are Microsoft's new HoloLens goggles which is "the most advanced holographic computer ever created" according to Kipman. Microsoft invented a new holographic processing unit to help map your environment without the need for any markers, phones, wires or a connection to a PC.

It also has a high-end CPU and GPU included.

Basically the video shows a headset allowing you to overlay graphics and video on any real world object allowing remote collaboration in real time. Implications include talking to customers while on site, surgeons learning a new technique remotely and turning your living room into a gaming environment.

Every Windows 10 device has holographic API enabled.

This looks like technology from every science fiction film of the last 20 years. "This is the world of holograms, and today you will see that it is real."

Windows Holographic.....

Kipman talking about taking technology and brining it into our world, rather than immersing ourselves in technology

Alex Kipman is on stage to talk about.....something

Now that the Surface Hub is out of the way Myerson is back to introduce the other big new hardware reveal...

Microsoft showing off Skype for Business on the Surface Hub, trying to show how meetings could be better. Seems like a bit of a stretch. Not sure what the big advantage here is for businesses. Think it could have been something Microsoft needed but not many others do...

Here we go with some new hardware.

The Surface Hub is an 84in 4k display with built in sensors, speakers, mics, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth "to unlock the power of the group in the workplace.

So that's it from Xbox, gaming and Phil Spencer. Next up should be some new hardware....we think. Here's Terry Myserson back on stage to announce a new build of Windows 10 will be released next week with the first build of Windows 10 on phones coming in February

With Windows 10 you will be able to play Xbox exclusive games on your PC with a new streaming service...

Spencer is showing how easy it is to share game clips through the Xbox app. Microsoft is also moving to the DirectX 12 standard on Windows 10 to improve performance and graphics.

Spencer also showed off how easy it is to play games with friends whether they are on PC or Xbox.

That's it from Belfiore, next up is Phil Spencer, head of Xbox to talk about gaming on Windows 10.

Spencer is showing off the new Xbox app for Windows 10 which will be available for all PCs and tablets (not smartphones?) which will feature an Activity Feed, My Games and Messages - the last one allowing you share voice and text messages across platforms

The final big feature of Spartan is Cortana, which is being built right into the browser. She will pop up at the right time apparently, meaning if you begin typing weather she will offer the information without the need to visit another website. Cortana will also offer information about the pages you are visiting, such as giving you directions to a restaurant you are looking at, advising on dietary requirements, and how long it will take to get there.

Next big feature is a reader view, which will strip out a lot of the ads, and other extraneous content on a website to make it easier for your to read. There is also a Reading List and offline caching to allow you access content even when not connected.

Belfiore talking about a major feature of Spartan - note-taking.

As expected, the Spartan browser will be able to annotate and share webpages straight in the browser allowing users to highlight specific sections as well as adding notes with a keyboard, stylus or even your finger on touchscreen devices.

Project Spartan is a new browser built from the ground up to run across PC, tablet and smartphone.

UI is streamlined and mirrors look of Windows 10.

Belfiore racing through apps now including a new Photos app, updated Maps with Cortana integration and a new Music offering.

All apps are Universal Apps which will run across desktop, tablet and smartphone.....

Next up is the Spartan Browser

Touch centric Office apps look great, and if they work as well as they looked on stage could be a huge driver of growth for Windows tablets and smartphone.

Belfiore now showing off several apps (Outlook, Calendar, Photos etc) on smartphones and desktop and showing how they are responsive to screen size as well as consistent in terms of looks and design. Belfiore getting confident and doing two-handed demoing on smartphone and PC at once...

Belfiore now showing off Office on Windows Phone, which looks great. Word, Excel and PowerPoint...highlighting how recent list of documents "roams" from device to device across versions of Office.....as long as you are using Windows 10 everywhere I guess

Now moving on to Universal Apps, which allow developer to write once, publish everywhere.

Skype will be embedded deeply within Windows 10 across all devices, meaning you will be able to switch between text messages and Skype seamlessly.

Microsoft is putting voice at the centre of Windows 10 on phones, so that anywhere you can type, you will now be able to use your voice.

Now showing Windows 10 running on a Lumia 1520 smartphone. Home screen looks similar, while apps list features most recently installed apps at the time. The Action Center pull down menu now integrates with your PC and the Settings app is now a centralised, standalone app just as it is on PC.

Finally, here's Windows 10 on tablets and smartphones. Belfiore calling it a "version of Windows 10 for devices of 8in and smaller" meaning it's a separate product to the main Windows 10 OS?

Belfiore showing off Cortana as another member of the family, allowing you to play music just by talking to your PC, or ask it how high the Eiffel tower is. Essentially this is what Amazon's odd Echo product offers, but on your PC.

Belfiore also showing off enterprise aspects sending the first email from Cortana on the desktop...

Cortana on the PC will roll out to Windows 10 insider program in the coming months.

Our games correspondent Ben Skipper is clearly not too impressed with the Cortana demonstrations so far....

Cortana learns over time, you can decide what information it has access to (emails, calendar, notebook etc) and you can add information about your favourite sports teams, stocks or films.

Cortana is coming to the PC, with desktop integration. It will sit on the taskbar, and offer pop-up reminders at the right time or location. Just as on smartphones, you will be able to interact with it using your voice.

Cortana integration....

Now for some new stuff....with Belfiore warning that this is software that is not finished and we will see some glitches...

Now Continuum being shown off on a Surface, with users offered a new an option to bring everything full-screen when you detach the keyboard.

Belfiore also showed off Windows 10 on an 8in tablet showing how it would solve the problem of using legacy Win32 apps on a touch-screen device.

Demo time. Joe B (as he's called apparently) showing off how the Start Menu on the Desktop can be brought full screen to bring up the new Start Screen.

The Charms menu has also bee revamped. This will now be customisable and feature notifications. Also the Settings and Control Panel will be a single entity, which is a brilliant move.

Up next will be Joe Belfiore to show a first look on Windows 10 on smartphones...

For the first year after Windows 10 is available it will be a free upgrade to all customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. Following Apple's move towards free OS updates on desktop and smartphone.

Myerson says that Microsoft Windows 10 will be upgradable for free over the lifetime of your device - as long as it is supported of course.

Windows could be thought of as one of the largest internet services out there Myerson says.

Myerson not really saying a whole hell of a lot during the opening of this keynote aside from some vague predictions about connecting the next billion...

"You are our customer not our product" - Myerson having a subtle (well not that subtle really) at Google and playing up the more personal computing that Windows 10 will bring..

Myerson is rounding up the previous Windows 10 announcements, talking about Universal Apps, the enterprise readiness of the operating system and its security credentials which Myerson says would have prevented some of the recent high profile cyber attacks (Sony Pictures perhaps?)

Myerson also talking about the feedback it has got from the Windows Insider program which has seen 1.7 million people sign up, installing the software on 3 million devices - 800,000 pieces of feedback on over 200,000 topics.

And we're off, with Terry Myerson VP of operating systems is first up, promising our most comprehensive look at Windows 10 yet as well as some new hardware. Satya Nadella will also make an appearance to talk about the importance of Windows to Microsoft

We're almost ready for the off at Redmond. The briefing is likely to be a couple of hours long and as Phil Spencer says, we're likely to need to stay watching until the end...

The biggest single thing Microsoft needs to do today, in my mind at least, is give a vision for the future of its smartphones strategy which is convincing. Whether that is a scaled version of Windows 10 or a standalone Windows Phone 10 offering, it really needs to get the next move right.

After the damp squib that was Windows 8, Microsoft has a lot riding on getting 10 right. Windows 10 wants to be all things to all users, but will it ultimately fail like its predecessor or will it put Microsoft back on track in the mobile space?

And what about new hardware? Well, a report from The Information this week claimed Microsoft will show off "a phone-laptop hybrid that might appeal to enterprise customer."

Whatever one of those is. Sounds like a relation to the curious Asus PadFone to us...

For anyone wondering what happened to Windows 9, it never actually happened. Microsoft is jumping straight from 8 to 10 to show how much of an improvement this update will be.

Should we be expecting some Xbox and gaming news today? Sure looks like it...

Microsoft is in the middle of a major transition at the moment. It is seeking to move from being a predominately desktop-focused company to one which embraces the massive move towards mobile computing.

While it wants to appeal to smartphone and tablet users, the company will still look to appease the IT managers and desktop users still out there using hundreds of millions of Windows PCs.

This live blog will kick off at 4pm (GMT), an hour ahead of the start of Microsoft's media briefing. For now, you can read our in-depth preview of what we expect to be announced, including more details on Microsoft's plans for Windows 10 on smartphones, Cortana integration and the all-new Spartan browser.

Having already released an enterprise-focused version of Windows 10, Microsoft is set to show off more consumer-focused features of the new operating system on Wednesday at a media briefing at its headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

The event is likely to give us a lot more details about how Windows 10 will work across desktop, laptops, tablet and mobile as well as potentially giving us a glimpse of how it will integrate with the company's Xbox platform.

We are likely to see some details about Windows 10 on smartphones, the new Spartan browser, and deep Cortana integration as well as the new Continuum feature in operation.

We have a full in-depth preview of what to expect from the announcement here.