Microsoft unveils Project Solara, an AI agent platform designed for smart devices instead of apps

Microsoft's Project Solara is an Android OS designed for agents instead of apps

Microsoft has been deeply committed to the growth of generative AI technology in recent years through its now-fragmented partnership with OpenAI. At Build 2026, the company remains all-in on AI, and it's looking toward the future with a new software platform. The new Android-based OS is called Project Solara, and Microsoft says Solara is designed to run agents instead of apps. Project Solara is not something you'll have to worry about killing your apps anytime soon. It's limited to a few pieces of concept hardware and software that are awaiting the magical agents of the future. The vision is for Solara to run on myriad specialized devices with interfaces generated on the spot, and it's all powered by the explosive intelligence of models that Microsoft and others insist will soon exist. According to Microsoft, Solara is a chip-to-cloud platform intended to free agents from reliance on single interfaces. Much of Microsoft's messaging around AI is speculative and self-serving, but the company rightly points out that new computing form factors have always required specialization, and that process is complex and expensive. The shift to mobile computing, for example, tripped Microsoft up multiple times as it fell behind on app availability, security, and long-term support. But imagine none of that mattered because you have a gaggle of AI agents that build what you need based on context. That's Project Solara, which is based on an open source build of Google's Android software (AOSP). Microsoft can't really call it Android as it's not a licensed package -- the underlying OS is called the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform. It includes various Microsoft enterprise technologies, along with a shell that can interact with multiple AI agents. Microsoft says Solara is being designed around a concept called just-in-time UI. Rather than manually designing interfaces and content for a watch, a desktop monitor, or smart glasses, Solara would use agents to create interfaces that make sense in the moment. So your work badge, which runs a full Android OS for some reason, could display a minimal interface with one or two functions, but the same functions on a smart display would include more data and features. However, Microsoft is clear that this is still just a concept. None of it works, but the company is committed to spending money on it as part of its massive AI expansion plans. Agentic concepts Microsoft has shown off two concept devices that illustrate where it hopes to go with Project Solara. The more conventional is the Desk Concept, which looks like a typical smart display. It's got a touchscreen, microphones, and a camera. While you sit at your desk, this gadget would keep you apprised of what your theoretical AI agents are doing on your behalf. It can act as a secondary monitor or become a standalone Windows PC with Windows 365 cloud computing. This concept is built around MediaTek IoT chips. The other Solara concept skews weirder. What if the work badge at the end of your lanyard had a touchscreen, 5G connectivity, a camera, microphones, and a fingerprint scanner? That's the Badge Concept. It would have the same Solara software, piping in generative interfaces from your preferred AI agent. Microsoft envisions this Qualcomm-based device providing biometric-authenticated access to your agents -- just tap the sensor and start telling your personal robot what to do. It could also record and summarize meetings and use the camera to "take action on the environment," whatever that means. You can't even get in line to buy either of these devices. Microsoft's next step is to demo its agent-first devices with industry partners, including AccuWeather, Best Buy, CVS Health, Levi's, and Target. Microsoft has struggled to branch out beyond traditional computing and enterprise services, having tried and failed on numerous occasions to gain a foothold in mobile computing. With AI, Microsoft was uncharacteristically at the forefront of change. With its OpenAI deal sputtering, the company is now looking to the future, and this is it: agents instead of apps. This is an interesting pitch for how we might actually use AI agents, and it's not coming totally out of left field. Google is also pursuing agentic interfaces in its search products. At I/O, Google previewed new agent-first search tools that can instantly build dashboards and mini-apps based on your search queries. As vague and pie-in-the-sky as Project Solara may be, Microsoft is pretty in tune with the rest of big tech's AI plans. If any of it works, we can only hope it doesn't lead to a new generation of touchscreen millstones around our necks.

Microsoft's Project Solara is an OS for AI agent gadgets

Microsoft just announced "Project Solara," a new OS designed for gadgets that run AI agents, at Build 2026. The company is calling it "a new platform built from the ground up to power agent-driven experiences." It's built on Android, not Windows. Microsoft demonstrated two concept Project Solara devices at Build today: Desk concept and badge concept. The desk concept is an Amazon Echo Show-like device that unlocks with facial recognition and provides access to AI agents. The badge concept is a wearable, the type of badge you'd typically use to access a work building. It has a camera and a fingerprint scanner, which can wake an AI agent with a single press. Microsoft demonstrated the ability to tap and record a conversation, and instantly transcribe it. The camera can also be used by the agent to see what a user can see. Microsoft isn't planning to ship these two devices, but they'll be reference designs that it hopes other hardware makers will build into real products, according to GeekWire. Project Solara is designed for agent-first devices, and the platform is "highly flexible," according to Microsoft fellow Steven Bathiche. Companies like AccuWeather, Best Buy, CVS Healthcare, and Target are planning to kick off pilots of the hardware. Microsoft picked a version of Android, the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform, instead of Windows to "run on smaller, lower-power devices while keeping the management and security features IT departments expect," GeekWire reports. The work on this initiative is early. But Microsoft wants to get involved in AI hardware as the category is expected to heat up in the coming months and years. Traditional rivals like Google and Meta are working on their own AI gadgets, and OpenAI is building devices in partnership with Jony Ive.

Meet Project Solara: Microsoft's Effort to Push AI Agents Into Smart Devices

Ready to hang an AI assistant around your neck? Microsoft is floating the concept as part of Project Solara, an effort to create a wide range of smart devices built for more powerful AI agents. At its Build conference today, Microsoft touted Solara as a way to usher in a new generation of computers, focused on leveraging the latest AI tech. It might sound redundant, considering we already have smart speakers, smart displays, and PCs, laptops, and phones with access to the latest AI chatbots. But a key difference is that these AI agents will be able to flow across an entire ecosystem of devices, rather than being constrained to a single screen or device. "The next computer is not one device; it is all these devices working together as one system, with agents showing up closer to where and when you need them," said Steven Bathiche, CVP of Microsoft's Applied Sciences Group. Project Solara is technically a "chip-to-cloud platform designed for an open, multiple agent world." But in a blog post, Microsoft also framed it as a "liminal" operating system meant to transcend the device and cloud. The project will focus on overcoming software fragmentation by offering a low-cost unified framework that all kinds of AI agents can use to interface through an ecosystem of devices. To pull this off, Microsoft is betting on a capability called "just-in-time UI," which leverages AI models to generate user interfaces from computer code. This means an agent can "adapt across devices and modalities without requiring developers to redesign everything for every new form factor," Bathiche said. That's a huge departure from a software maker needing to manually optimize their apps to fit the specs and inputs for a hardware device. "AI changes that equation. We are already seeing models generate content, images, and layouts tailored to different contexts. If those capabilities become part of the agent loop, an agent can adapt its visual, voice, or multimodal interface to the device it is running on, without forcing developers to redesign the experience for every form factor. We call this broader capability just-in-time UI," he added. To demo the project, Microsoft introduced two concept devices: a standard-looking smart display powered by a MediaTek chip and a portable Qualcomm-powered access badge you can wear around your neck. They both include a touch screen, a microphone, cameras, and speakers. However, Bathiche noted, "These new devices are not meant to run traditional apps. They are designed for agents. That shift gives us more flexibility in the user interface, because the experience can adapt to the device, the screen size, the content, and even the mode of interaction -- whether visual, voice, touch, or multimodal." Microsoft developed the badge concept so that IT employees, nurses, and other front-line workers could easily access an AI agent on the go. Bathiche added that "inside Microsoft, hundreds of employees are already using these concept devices to improve their workday." In a demo at Build, Bathiche also used the badge prototype, which reminded him to gather content for a social media post. He then used the badge's camera to record the Build audience and asked Microsoft's Copilot AI to edit the video into photos for review. In another demo clip, he showed that the badge could also be used at a hospital to perform patient check-ins and capture patient vitals for documentation. "The same foundation, the same software can be adapted for many verticals, and workflows, such as retail, industrial, hospitality, financial services, legal and so forth," Bathiche said. There's no word on pricing or a potential launch date. Microsoft's announcement seems more like an early step to attract partners to support the new ecosystem. "We will extend our collaboration with silicon partners to create reference designs for a range of categories spanning portable, ultra-portable, wearable, desktop, and others," Bathiche wrote. "With those reference designs, we'll enable OEMs and product makers to develop specialized solutions for specific scenarios, environments, across a variety of industry segments." That said, Microsoft is preparing to pilot the current prototype devices with companies including AccuWeather, Best Buy, CVS Health, Levi's, Target, and others in the coming months. It's also unclear if Project Solara devices will target consumers. The company's announcement focused more on the potential to bring these "AI-agent first devices" to various enterprises. Still, Microsoft posted an image, hinting that the project aims to support a wide range of devices, including smart glasses, headphones, and smartwatches.

Microsoft announces Project Solara, its take on an AI agent platform - Engadget

The company demoed Solara on an Echo Show-style smart display and a smart key badge. Microsoft has announced that it's building a platform for AI agents. It's called Project Solara, and at Build 2026 the company showed it powering two different reference devices, a smart display and a smart key badge. Like many other companies, Microsoft believes the next platform shift is from apps to AI agents, and it wants Solara to be the platform the coming wave of AI-first devices run on. The smart display reference design is able to access information stored in Microsoft 365, like upcoming events from Outlook, or data from Excel. It also accepts voice input, and is theoretically capable of executing tasks on your behalf, if the company's concept video is to be believed. The smart key badge has similar functionality but is fully mobile, with a touchscreen and a camera that lets you input new kinds of information on the go.

Inside Microsoft's Project Solara: A new platform for devices that run AI agents instead of apps

[Editor's Note: Agents of Transformation is an independent GeekWire series, underwritten by Accenture, exploring the adoption and impact of AI and agents. See coverage of our related event.] A team inside Microsoft has been quietly building a platform for devices that run AI agents instead of apps, based on Android instead of Windows, with two working hardware designs so far, and an initial set of big-name companies lined up to run pilots. The platform, dubbed "Project Solara," is Microsoft's bet that AI will open up entirely new scenarios for computing -- using agents to avoid the constraints of traditional software, and off‑the‑shelf components to develop new devices quickly and inexpensively. Microsoft is racing against Google, Amazon, OpenAI and others to bring AI to devices and provide the technical backbone for a new generation of computing. In effect, the company is attempting to repeat with AI what it did for personal computers five decades ago, with much stiffer competition this time but also far greater technical freedom. "Boundaries are collapsing," said Stevie Bathiche, the Microsoft corporate vice president and technical fellow who leads its Applied Sciences Group. "You don't necessarily need the traditional app model. You don't need the traditional way of developing experiences." The company unveiled Solara on Tuesday at its Build conference in San Francisco, describing it as a new platform that spans from chip to cloud. GeekWire got a behind-the-scenes look at the project during a briefing last week in Redmond, including demos of the first two concept devices based on the platform: * A desktop hub that sits beside a PC and responds to voice commands, signs users in using facial recognition, and surfaces the day's most pressing items. With a monitor attached, it becomes a full Windows machine running in the cloud. * A wearable badge that reimagines the standard employee ID card. A fingerprint button wakes an agent in one press; a single tap records and transcribes a conversation; and a built-in camera lets the agent act on what the user sees. Microsoft says it won't ship these devices itself. Instead, it envisions hardware makers and other industry partners turning the reference designs into implementations of their own, each intended for a specific industry, company, or scenario. For example, in one demo shown by the company, the high-tech badge ran on agents designed for use by a health-care worker, including the ability to scan a patient's QR code, record and transcribe the visit, log vitals, and start a prescription. In another application of the same badge, the built-in camera scanned a brainstorm board with ideas for an office revamp, and made a suggestion: add some plants. The two devices are a starting point. The bigger opportunity, the company says, is all the tasks and workflows where a PC or phone gets in the way or isn't practical to use. A display inside the Microsoft Applied Sciences lab gave a hint of where things could be headed, including smart glasses, rings, earbuds, scanners, and other form factors. "This is a way to put computing in those spaces easily and cheaply, but more importantly, it's a way to put your agent into those spaces," Bathiche said. In the coming months, companies including AccuWeather, Best Buy, CVS Health, Levi's, and Target are expected to begin pilots of devices based on the reference designs. The operating system is the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform, or MDEP, an enterprise version of Android that Microsoft developed for devices including Teams meeting-room hardware. The company says it chose MDEP over Windows deliberately, to run on smaller, lower-power devices while keeping the management and security features IT departments expect: patch and over-the-air updates, device integrity, Microsoft Defender, Intune, and Entra ID sign-in. What's different At first glance, the concept devices raise a couple of natural questions: 1) Why not just use a phone? Bathiche said companies have tried, particularly in healthcare, and it didn't go well. Asking a nurse to pull up patient data on a personal device felt wrong to patients and created security problems. A purpose-built device, he said, has a far smaller attack surface, can last a week on a single charge, and can orient its camera for face-to-face interaction rather than forcing the user to hold up a screen. "Computers are continuing to specialize," he said, describing a trend he has been calling out for years now. "Computers are continuing to come closer to you." 2) Isn't the desk device basically an Amazon Echo? Here, Bathiche drew a distinction: Alexa is one agent trying to do everything, while Solara is designed for each organization's own agents, secured and managed by its IT department. The practical difference was visible in the demo. The desk hub pairs with a PC over Bluetooth, hands off tasks between the two, and keeps them locked in sync. An Echo Show sitting next to the same PC wouldn't know it was there. Pushing the timeline Still, the project is very early, by Microsoft's own admission. Bathiche said CEO Satya Nadella liked what the team was doing and suggested showing it at Build this week, much sooner than the company would normally show its behind-the-scenes work in public. That underscores just how competitive and fast-moving the AI world is right now, but it also illustrates the pace that the new technologies are enabling. For example, Bathiche said the team got the badge running on the platform in about three days, using the same software as the desk device on a different chipset from a different company. Yet some fundamental details still need to be figured out. Asked by GeekWire about the business model for the platform, Bathiche pointed to one clear piece: the devices run on Microsoft's Azure cloud. Beyond that, he said, the economics are still taking shape. Even the potential scenarios are in the preliminary stages. For example, Bathiche said the healthcare demo was designed to illustrate the concept, not to serve as an actual clinical tool. The devices can run multiple agents at once, with a coordination layer that taps whichever agent a task requires. Microsoft offers its own agents, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, but the platform is designed for organizations to use other agents, as well. Qualcomm and MediaTek are the first chip partners. The badge runs on a new Qualcomm wearable chip; the desk hub runs on MediaTek IoT silicon. Both are off-the-shelf, not custom, which is central to how Microsoft plans to keep devices cheap and fast to build. Notably, OpenAI's reported AI-agent phone is also being developed on MediaTek and Qualcomm silicon, underscoring the competition emerging in this category. For Bathiche, Solara is a bet on what the next computer looks like. "What is the next thing that comes closer to you?" he asked. That, he contends, is where computing is ultimately going.

Microsoft's Big New Idea for AI Gadgets Is a Badge With a Camera

AI gadgets weren't on my Build bingo card, but Microsoft had other plans. During the unveiling of "Project Solara," a new platform for AI agents launched by Microsoft during its annual developer conference, the company also unveiled two new concept devices, and one of them is here to revolutionize the form factor we've all been eagerly anticipating the next generation of: the humble badge. I know, I know... thank god, right? Old badges are so flat and small and screenless, which is fine, but so outdated, which is why Microsoft's next-gen concept badge has loads of bells and whistles like a touchscreen, a fingerprint sensor, Wi-Fi, 5G connectivity, a microphone for voice inputs and recording, and -- I'm not joking -- a side-facing camera. To demonstrate this last part, a Microsoft technical fellow Steven Bathiche gave a brief demo using a prototype on stage by uttering the phrase, "Copilot, find some good shots from this, clean them up, and then send them to me for me and my team to review." Here's the concept in Microsoft's words: "We've reimagined a form factor that information workers, nurses, front-line workers, and millions of others use every day: the access badge. This on-the-go, lightweight, always connected companion empowers each person to do more by having their agents always by their side." While the badge has AI pendant vibes, like the kinds we've seen from companies like Plaud and Motorola, it's geared more toward enterprise -- think healthcare and retail. Beyond that, Microsoft seems to be treating the concept as a way to help insert its AI agents into real-life situations. Workers with a high-tech badge in their hands could be "using the integrated camera, the platform allows agents, with user permission, to better understand and help take action on the environment around them," for example. If that sounds familiar, it's probably because AI gadgets/wearables like smart glasses have been positioned in a similar light. Amazon, for example, has hopes of harnessing the form factor for use in its own business, helping delivery workers and people in its factories to expedite order fulfillment. The big difference here is that smart glasses already kind of exist, though, which is more than I can say for AI badges. But hey, every new form factor starts somewhere. Maybe this is the start of the badge era...

Microsoft unveils Project Solara: an OS for agent-first devices

Microsoft unveiled Project Solara at Build 2026, a chip-to-cloud platform for "agent-first devices" that run AI agents instead of traditional apps. Two concept devices, a wearable badge and desk companion, are being piloted with Best Buy, CVS Health, Levi's, and Target. Microsoft unveiled Project Solara at Build 2026, a new chip-to-cloud platform designed from the ground up for devices that run AI agents instead of traditional applications. The platform includes a lightweight operating system built on AOSP, enterprise-grade security and management through Intune and Entra ID, and what Microsoft calls "just-in-time UI," the ability for agent experiences to adapt their interface dynamically to whatever device they are running on. Two concept device reference designs were shown: a wearable badge and a desk companion, both targeting enterprise workers. The announcement is significant because it represents Microsoft's first attempt to build an operating system and hardware platform around the premise that apps are being replaced by agents as the primary way people interact with computers. Google, Salesforce, and OpenAI are all building agent platforms, but Microsoft is the first to extend the concept to purpose-built hardware that is neither a phone, a PC, nor a tablet. What the devices look like The badge concept reimagines the corporate access badge as an always-connected AI companion. It includes a touchscreen display, a fingerprint sensor for Hello for Business authentication, a far-field microphone array and speaker for voice interaction, a side-facing camera, and WiFi, Bluetooth, 5G, and satellite connectivity, all powered by Qualcomm wearable silicon. A nurse, a retail associate, or an office worker wearing it can glance at upcoming meetings, tap to record an in-person conversation with full transcription, or ask their agents questions hands-free. The desk concept is a small stationary device with a touchscreen, dual microphone array, speaker, UWB presence sensor, and MediaTek IoT silicon. It authenticates via facial recognition (Hello for Business) and provides ambient access to AI agents while the user works. Plugged into an external display via USB-C, it transforms into a Windows 365 cloud PC client, giving enterprises a single device that serves as both an agent companion and a thin client. Both devices are explicitly not designed to run traditional applications. There is no app store, no browser-first experience, no traditional desktop. The entire interaction model assumes that the user's relationship with software is mediated by agents rather than by opening and navigating individual applications. The platform architecture Project Solara runs on MDEP (Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform), an enterprise-grade operating system built on the Android Open Source Project. This is notable: Microsoft is building its next-generation device platform on Android's open-source base rather than on Windows, a pragmatic choice that gives the platform access to Android's hardware compatibility and driver ecosystem while allowing Microsoft to layer its own agent shell, security model, and management stack on top. The platform is built on three pillars. First, enterprise readiness: Intune device management, Entra ID authentication, Hello for Business biometrics, and physical privacy controls including a hardware mic mute button. Second, an agent-driven interaction model with just-in-time UI that adapts across different screen sizes, form factors, and input modes. Third, extensibility for multiple agents, both Microsoft's own (Copilot, Researcher, Facilitator, a new Priority Agent) and third-party agents built on Microsoft 365 Agents SDK, Copilot Studio, or the Microsoft Agent Framework. Enterprise AI agents are already being deployed in retail, financial services, and healthcare, but they run on existing devices. Project Solara's thesis is that purpose-built hardware, shaped around how agents work rather than how apps work, can deliver better experiences in specific workflows and environments. Just-in-time UI The most technically ambitious element of the announcement is just-in-time UI. Traditionally, every new device form factor requires developers to redesign their applications for the new screen size, resolution, and input method. This is one reason new device categories are expensive to create and why they struggle without a strong app ecosystem. Microsoft's answer is that agents should generate their own interfaces. On a small badge screen, an agent might render a minimal card with a single action. On a desk device, the same agent produces a richer visual layout. On a connected display, it generates a full dashboard. The agent adapts its presentation to the device rather than requiring developers to build separate experiences for each form factor. Today, this works through semi-structured approaches like adaptive cards. As AI models improve at generating layouts and interfaces, Microsoft expects the system to move toward increasingly dynamic and eventually fully generative UI. The company is explicit that fully generative UI "is not here yet" but is investing in the middle of the spectrum between responsive design and unconstrained generation. Who is testing it Hundreds of Microsoft employees are already using the concept devices internally. The company has also announced a private pilot programme with AccuWeather, Best Buy, CVS Health, Levi's, and Target, a list that spans retail, healthcare, and consumer services. GitHub Copilot and Dragon Copilot (Microsoft's healthcare AI) are both exploring agent-first experiences on the platform. The enterprise agentic AI market is consolidating rapidly, and Microsoft is betting that the next competitive advantage is not just having the best agents but delivering them through the best-suited devices. A nurse wearing a Solara badge that captures patient interactions, surfaces relevant records, and tracks follow-up tasks is a fundamentally different value proposition from the same nurse typing into a laptop between patients. Whether enterprises will adopt yet another device category, with all the procurement, management, and change management that entails, is the central question. Microsoft's answer is that agents reduce the cost of specialisation: because the agent adapts to the device, not the other way around, the barrier to creating new form factors drops. The platform is designed to make it possible, not inevitable. The pilot partners will determine whether it is also desirable.

An AI agent in a security badge? That's Microsoft's Project Solara pitch

This platform aims to streamline AI integration across purpose-specific devices, potentially expanding to smart glasses, watches, and rings for enhanced workplace security and IT management. AI agents will soon be everywhere, we're told, but where exactly? Clearly they're in the cloud, on our desktop PCs, and even on our phones, but they could also live on other devices, like smart speakers, glasses, and perhaps, even a smart security badge. That's the idea behind Project Solara, Microsoft's new platform for putting AI agents in a wide range of devices beyond the standard form factors. But in a larger sense, Project Solara (which Microsoft unveiled during its Build conference on Tuesday) hints at a future where AI agents are seeping into the physical world in ways we hadn't previously imagined. As for Project Solara itself, it's being described as an "OS for AI agents" that would streamline the process of building AI into purpose-specific workplace devices. The platform incorporates a variety of Microsoft technologies designed to boost security, allow for IT administration, and incorporate other business and enterprise-level functionality. That's the boring stuff. Where Project Solara gets more interesting is with a pair of concept ideas that Microsoft shared during its Build briefing-one fairly conventional, and one that's more out-of-the-box. The first Solara concept device is essentially a smart speaker, complete with an Alexa Show-style shell and touchscreen that lets you see the status of your agents, speak with them, and otherwise interact with them. There's also Hello for Business authentication to ensure only the right users can chat with your agents. Interesting, but not completely unexpected. The second concept is a bit more thought provoking: a smart security badge with a touchscreen that can show either your name and face (in its standard badge mode) or a list of agents, which you could summon with a tap. The Solara badge concept boasts a camera and microphone, allowing your agent to scan a barcode, speak with you, or record conversations. The badge would also boast a fingerprint scanner for Windows Hello authentication and 5G cellular connectivity. There's even a lanyard for clipping the badge to your belt or coat pocket. The Project Solana documentation includes imagery that alludes to other form factors, running the gamut from the expected, like smart glasses and watches, to more fantastical devices like rings and barcode scanner guns. What other gadgets, portable and otherwise, might AI agents wind up in? Good question, and I'm sure product designers and AI-minded entrepreneurs will come up with plenty of creative answers. I also wonder if purpose-build devices with AI agents inside would expand their roles from helping employees do their jobs to doing more invasive things, like tracking their productivity. I don't see why not, unfortunately.

Microsoft shows off Project Solara smart badge and smart display concepts as AI-first hardware

Microsoft is building an AI agent-first platform called Project Solara, and is showing off some interesting hardware designs. Microsoft has announced Project Solara, which is a new platform built for AI agents rather than applications. During the Build 2026 keynote, Microsoft says it expects the next wave of AI-first devices to run on the Android-based Project Solara, rather than Windows. The company already has a couple of hardware form factors in mind, unveiling concepts for a smart display and a smart badge. The badge is the more interesting of the two devices, as it is designed to mimic a smart identity badge that workers in certain professions use gain to access to their offices, etc. "We've reimagined a form factor that information workers, nurses, front-line workers, and millions of others use every day: the access badge. This on-the-go, lightweight, always connected companion empowers each person to do more by having their agents always by their side," the company says in the announcement. "Using the integrated camera, the platform allows agents, with user permission, to better understand and help take action on the environment around them." It has a touchscreen display, a Hello fingerprint sensor, a privacy switch, speaker, side-facing camera, WiFi, Bluetooth and 5G. It'd run off a Qualcomm wearable chip. The idea behind the display is for a new "Priority Agent" service that shows the user what's most important in that moment, while users are only one tap away from using their "Facilitator" capture in person meetings, transcribe the entire thing, and pull out action points. Microsoft is also working on a desk-based smart display similar to an Amazon Echo Show that offers access to Microsoft 365 Copilot as a "thought partner" with users able to hand off tasks. It'll also offer access to a "Researcher" agent that enables users to kept tabs on their longer-range projects and share reports. "Together, the badge and desk concept devices show what becomes possible when agents are no longer confined to one app, one screen, or one device. They show how agent-first experiences can move across stationary, portable, and wearable forms -- adapting to the user, the context, and the work," Microsoft says. Microsoft plans to start piloting devices - not necessarily these ones - in the enterprise realm.

Microsoft unveils Project Solara for mobile AI devices By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Microsoft Corp. announced Project Solara on Tuesday, a new platform designed to power products that users interact with primarily through artificial intelligence agents on mobile devices for businesses. The company revealed the platform at its Build developer conference in San Francisco. Microsoft demonstrated two concept designs created with chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. and Taiwan's MediaTek Inc. Steven Bathiche, a technical fellow in Microsoft's applied sciences group, presented a device resembling an employee badge that includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and wireless connectivity, a touch-screen display and fingerprint reader. The second device is a small desktop unit with a screen that looks similar to smart speakers like Amazon's Echo Show line and Google's Nest Hub. Microsoft showed a video featuring Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon discussing the need for new devices that can run specific AI agents in form factors suited to their operating environments. The executives said existing interfaces such as personal computers and smartphones won't always be the best solution. Microsoft said AccuWeather, Best Buy, CVS Health and Levi Strauss are working with the technology. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.