New Surface Dial "compatible with any Windows 10 PC"; now available to pre-order for $99.99

Today, at its Windows 10 event in New York City, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Studio, a 28-inch all-in-one touchscreen PC, which it says is designed to help everyone be more creative. The device features plenty of high-end specs, including up to Intel Core i7 processors (albeit 6th-generation, rather than the latest Kaby Lake chips), 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage.

With its focus on creativity, Microsoft enabled Surface Pen support on the device's display, but it also introduced the Surface Dial, describing it as "a new tool for the creative process".

During its announcement, Microsoft showed off the Dial being used with the Surface Studio, but the company has since clarified that it's "compatible with any Windows 10-enabled PC, laptop and tablet with the Anniversary Update". However, there are different degrees of 'compatibility' depending on the device you're using:

The full Surface Dial experience is available exclusively on the Surface Studio, including the use of the Dial on the display itself
"Optimized off-screen compatibility" is available on the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4
The Dial also works with a more limited set of features on any other PC, tablet or notebook running the Windows 10 Anniversary Update

Some of the key interaction features available with the Surface Dial include:

Click and hold Surface Dial to display a radial menu of tools, making it easier and faster to do the things you love. Imagine being able to undo each individual line of a drawing step-by-step, change pencil color or brush size, scrub through video content, rotate 3D vectors or manipulate parameters, in a single turn.

[...]

Easy access to shortcuts, controls, drawing tools, and more

Adjust volume on your favorite tracks in Spotify, Groove, and Pandora

Scroll through articles on your favorite news websites

Edit, rotate, and manipulate your creations in a single turn

Pre-orders are now open for the Surface Dial, priced at $99.99, ahead of its release on November 10.

Those who pre-order the Surface Studio - which is priced from $2,999 - will get the Dial free.

Source: Microsoft Store