Microsoft's 'Surface' Computer - the future?

[Hatebreed]

Table is set for computing

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates once talked about putting a PC on every desk. Now Gates is talking about turning the desk itself — or a tabletop — into a computer. Microsoft is set to announce an ambitious new computing category today called "surface computing" to try to make it happen.

The initiative, several years in the making, transforms an ordinary tabletop into a translucent, interactive façade. The surface can recognize cellphones, digital cameras, special ID-coded digital dominoes and other physical objects.

PHOTO GALLERY: See what's on the Surface




And it can respond to human touch. Kids can finger-paint digitally. Business travelers can dive into maps and surf the Web without a mouse or keyboard, by using simple touch gestures across the screen. In restaurant settings, you'll be able to order meals and play digital board games. At home, there may be no more fussing with the half-dozen remote controls sitting on your coffee table. That's because the table becomes the remote control.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer plans to unveil the first of these interactive tables, branded Microsoft Surface, today at the D: All Things Digital executive conference in Carlsbad, Calif. The initial products, pitched at businesses, consist of a 30-inch acrylic horizontal display that sits on top of a nearly 2-foot-tall table. The public will likely get its first peek in November in restaurants, hotels, casinos and stores. Commercial launch partners include Harrah's Entertainment, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, T-Mobile USA and global gaming machine designer International Game Technology (IGT).

WHAT'S INSIDE

Microsoft's first product using surface computing is a 30-inch horizontal display that sits on a nearly 2-foot tall table. Computer: The Surface software platform runs on Windows Vista. Tabletop: The acrylic tabletop is meant to withstand spills and fingerprints. Cameras: Cameras with infrared filters sense objects, hand gestures and touch. Light engine: A projector displays results on the tabletop. Source: Microsoft

USATODAY

[P.Warner]

Sir

This feels something akin to Star Trek, the Next Generation! I personally think that the future of computing lies not with microsoft but with an opensource medium that works like a grid. I see the future as a place where the next generation would all possess very cheap hardware (much higher in capability than our present day laptops) that would have terrabyte of higher commections to the internet permanently through wireless and we would access our operating system and for that matter any programme on the internet without having to keep it in our system. The hard drive is still something of a stumbling block in terms of PC or Mac productivity. There has been experiments with flash based hard drives that would be much faster than our present day SATA or SCSI drives at enterprise level.

I remember reading an article a couple of years ago about hand or solar powered laptops to be put together and given to African children. These would cost around 200 US dollars each and would be distributed by charities. I am not sure if this actually materialised.

[ialbd]

impressive i must say, that wireless connectivity is a fabulous feature....

[Shafin]

Originally Posted by
P.Warner
I remember reading an article a couple of years ago about hand or solar powered laptops to be put together and given to African children. These would cost around 200 US dollars each and would be distributed by charities. I am not sure if this actually materialised.

They are getting into production soon,but I doubt whether they can succeed,the configuration of the laptop is miserable compared to current prices,if you are interested,google 'one laptop per child'.

[P.Warner]

Its interesting to see that they are using the AMD Geode processor. I read about this platform a while ago but never really anticipated its use in anything other than handheld pcs.

[zahid]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW..

Ekhon jodi kuno pichchi chayer cup feley dey tabley , tailey ?

[allrounder]

The surface has a lot of thing similar to this
http://citywall.org/pages/about

[Sohel]

cool thread.

the product won't go beyond the novelty stage, and end-up in a tech museum with other novelties. cooler elements of the product will find use elsewhere... visors and implants are the not too distant future of personal computing.

[damalChele]

I liked the idea of this. It's like something taken out of a sci-fi movie.

[SideWinder]

daam koto? ami chai!!!

[Nasif]

Funny ....

[Sovik]

surface computer, sounds great but it will be more like cool toy other than useful

[AsifTheManRahman]

yessss...i love meaningless inventions.

[ialbd]

haha the pardoy was funny....

[One World]

surface will survive. if Macintosh can, surface can. if it does not Bill Gates will make it survive, dont worry he has experience from windows.

(No quotes - my own words)

[Sovik]

10000 dollar well spent.

[Hatebreed]

Surface would be great if they can make it compact like a laptop or tablet computer. The table idea isn't so bad for public, work/business and office environments, or a very rich household, but if Micro$oft wants it to succeed in the mass market, they need to reduce the price and size.