Watch Microsoft's MWC 2019 live stream right here

MWC 2019

Microsoft is making its first big appearance at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in quite a while this year, and you'll be able to stream the company's keynote as it happens. Set to kick off on February 24 at 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CET), the keynote will feature "new innovations for the future of computing" with comments from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and HoloLens chief Alex Kipman.

You can follow along with the keynote live, tune in with the video embed above or at Microsoft's event site (opens in new tab).

What to expect

As for what we're expecting Microsoft to announce, all signs point to a second iteration of the company's HoloLens augmented reality headset. We're definitely not expecting any surprise phone announcements, but Kipman's involvement strongly hints at a HoloLens 2 reveal. That's far from certain, of course, but all we have to go off of is a slick, cryptic teaser video posted to YouTube last week by Kipman himself.

The original HoloLens has mostly enjoyed success as an enterprise tool, bolstering manufacturing processes, along with design and medical applications. The headset has even led to a lucrative $480 million contract with the U.S. military, which could lead the Army to eventually purchase upwards of 100,000 HoloLens units.

Given that the original HoloLens launched in 2016, a followup is hotly anticipated. It's already been confirmed that the HoloLens 2 will sport a custom Holographic Processing Unit (HPU) with an AI coprocessor, allowing it to natively implement deep neural networks to analyze objects and data without sending anything to the cloud. However, we expect several other improvements, including, potentially, a switch to an ARM processor and support for LTE.

Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see what Microsoft has in store for its MWC 2019 keynote.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl

11 Comments
  • Microsoft is also hosting a VR presentation in AltspaceVR, for people who are using Windows Mixed Reality (or other VR headsets) instead of legacy 2D monitors:
    https://account.altvr.com/events/1146674506677354501
  • That's not what Legacy means.
  • Found a website from a case manufacturer that lists the Surface phone. While it is no means confirmation, it is interesting. So far it does list other unannounced phones from MWC as well and hasn't been wrong yet. Sent you guys the link through email.
  • I'd love to see that can u post the link here.
  • Well, that's Interesting indeed.
  • Start the presentation already!
  • $399 for a Kinect. That's impressive pricing even for Microsoft. More than double the predecessor.
  • Well...because it's not a consumer level toy. Yes it's inspired by the original, but it's vastly different and capable, Notice the Azure name in front, not Xbox
  • It's also designed to be a completely stand alone device. It'll function without being plugged into an Xbox or PC. So in that sense it's much cheaper than the old Kinect once you factor needing another device to run it. They can be deployed in ways that were straight up infeasible previously.
  • Forever shaping the industries around us with Cloud. This feels like The first step towards something better. Nadella is a genius.
  • Wait and you should see an Xbox Kinect soon. That may be a little bit cheaper.