IIT Madras Alumnus Pavan Davuluri Is New Head of Microsoft Windows and Surface

Pavan Davuluri, an alumnus of IIT Madras, has been appointed as the new head of Microsoft Windows. Pavan Davuluri will lead the combined Windows and Surface teams at Microsoft.

Davuluri has a history of overseeing Microsoft's hardware endeavors and will now be in charge of Windows engineering as well. This strategic move follows the internal merging of the Windows and Surface teams, marking a significant leadership reshuffle within Microsoft. Davuluri's experience and expertise are expected to play a key role in the development of both Windows and Surface products moving forward.

This follows the departure of Panos Panay and represents a significant leadership change within the company. Davuluri has been with Microsoft for over two decades and has previously overseen the company's hardware endeavors, including efforts to optimize Windows for Arm-based devices. His new role involves spearheading development on both Windows and Surface, marking a return to the earlier structure within Microsoft's Engineering and Devices organization.

Pavan Davuluri has been involved in several significant projects at Microsoft including the ones below –

Optimization of Windows for Arm-based devices: Davuluri played a key role in adapting Windows to run efficiently on Arm-based processors, which are known for their power efficiency.

Development of Surface processors: He oversaw the development of processors for the Surface line of devices in collaboration with companies like Qualcomm and AMD¹.

Contributions to Bing, Edge, and Copilot: His work also extended to Microsoft's search engine Bing, the Edge browser, and the AI-based tool Copilot.

These projects reflect his broad experience and expertise in both hardware and software, as well as his ability to lead teams in developing integrated solutions for Microsoft's products.

New Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface is Available to Pre-order in India also

Samsung and Microsoft announced today that a new, more versatile 40-inch 1080p multitouch Microsoft Surface device - 'Samsung SUR40', is now available for pre-order, the near final stop on its journey from lab to marketplace. Now, businesses in 23 countries can visit the Samsung website to find a local reseller and place an order for the Samsung SUR40. Shipments are expected to start early next year.

A second, more retail-friendly version of Microsoft Surface is now available for pre-order in 23 countries that are - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In India the price of Samsung SUR40, 40-inch 1080p multitouch table device will be around Rs.4,90,000 for device without stand and Rs.5.20,000 for display device with a stand. The second, more retail-friendly version of Microsoft Surface is lighter and thinner than the original.

Automotive, education, finance, healthcare, hospitality, and retail are just some of the industries that will soon be able to take advantage of Samsung SUR40's PixelSense technology, new, sleeker form factor and horizontal and vertical orientation options. Existing customers of Microsoft surface device inlcudes Dassault Aviation, Fujifilm Corp. and Royal Bank of Canada.

Many companies are already using Microsoft Surface to give potential customers virtual tours of plane interiors, help them plan flights, provide them with the ability to create immersive photo books, and entice bank customers into brick and mortar branches. Those experiences only hint at how the new Surface device will be able to help businesses engage with customers, said Somanna Palacanda, director of Microsoft Surface.

The Samsung SUR40 was just named a 2011 "Best of What's New" award winner by Popular Science magazine and is featured in a special awards issue currently on newsstands. Corinne Iozzio, senior associate editor at Popular Science, said the magazine’s editors were impressed with the update to the original Surface, a 2008 “Best of What’s New” winner.

Samsung SUR40 Specifications Overview
Display	40” FullHD 1080p (1920x1080) Multi-Touch with >50 point of contact 1:1000 Contrast Ratio 300 cd/m2 Max Brightness Gorilla Glass
CPU	AMD Athlon X2 245e (dual-core, 2.9GHz, 2MB L2, 45nm, 45W)
GPU	AMD Radeon HD 6750 1GB GDDR5
RAM	4GB DDR3
HDD	320GB / 7200RPM
A/V Connectivity	HDMI In HDMI Out Stereo RCA SPDIF (2) 3.5mm audio jacks
Communications	Gigabit Ethernet 802.11n Bluetooth
I/O Ports	4 USB, SD Card Reader
Operating System	Embedded Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Operating Temp.	Max ambient 30C
System Management Tools	DMFT DASH Support
Weight – with stand legs	70.0 kg / 154 lbs.
Weight – standalone	39.5 kg / 87 lbs.
Pricing	$8400 MSRP for display only (Preorder) $9049 MSRP for display with stand (Preorder)