edit:MS introduces surface computing

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: michaels
http://download.microsoft.com/download/...008a8a9b6e/MicrosoftSurfacing_on10.wmv

The T-mobile bit was quite amazing I must say :Q

Can you just imagine the possibilities with something like that? Imagine being able to come home and drop your smartphone on the table...syncs your calendar from the phone to your online Gmail Calendar to your desktop calendar application. Update contacts. Copy over MP3s and make custom playlists. With the right interface, it could be so much easier and faster to use with a multi-touch screen.

 

[pcslookout]

That is awesome! Can anyone say Minority Report the movie! Sci Fi is becoming a reality once again!

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: michaels
http://download.microsoft.com/download/...008a8a9b6e/MicrosoftSurfacing_on10.wmv

The T-mobile bit was quite amazing I must say :Q

Can you just imagine the possibilities with something like that? Imagine being able to come home and drop your smartphone on the table...syncs your calendar from the phone to your online Gmail Calendar to your desktop calendar application. Update contacts. Copy over MP3s and make custom playlists. With the right interface, it could be so much easier and faster to use with a multi-touch screen.

:Q:Q at the WiFi camera transferring the photo instantly :Q:Q

 

[cruiser1338]

Can anyone say old news? http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6379146923853181774&q=multi-touch and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcKqyn-gUbY

Those movies say Apple and Adobe stuff. Microsoft seems to have it to being non-portable. Projectors and IR sensors? Comeon, what is this Duck Hunt?

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: cruiser1338
Can anyone say old news? http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6379146923853181774&q=multi-touch and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcKqyn-gUbY

Those movies say Apple and Adobe stuff. Microsoft seems to have it to being non-portable. Projectors and IR sensors? Comeon, what is this Duck Hunt?

Are those commercial products? Didn't think so

And both links are of the same device.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: pcslookout
That is awesome! Can anyone say Minority Report the movie! Sci Fi is becoming a reality once again!

lol I was thinking of the exact same movie when I watched the video

 

[cruiser1338]

Two demos, same device. They did say that it was scalable and cheap though. This is limited to a table, and for a while at least, in casinos and hotels.

The iPhone is the first portable multi-touch device, and this just seems like a feeble attempt to take away from that. Fortunately it won't, but yeah.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: cruiser1338
Can anyone say old news? http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6379146923853181774&q=multi-touch and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcKqyn-gUbY

Those movies say Apple and Adobe stuff. Microsoft seems to have it to being non-portable. Projectors and IR sensors? Comeon, what is this Duck Hunt?

Are those commercial products? Didn't think so

And both links are of the same device.

I was going to say the same thing. The guy presenting at TED is in research (a student iirc); there's a huge difference between a cool gee-whiz prototype demonstration and a commercially viable product. Just think of the enormous amount of work that has to go into to producing even the software for such a device. There are mountains of data, graphics, math, and programming behind all of those neat programs like painting, photos, and restaurant menus.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: cruiser1338
Two demos, same device. They did say that it was scalable and cheap though. This is limited to a table, and for a while at least, in casinos and hotels.

The iPhone is the first portable multi-touch device, and this just seems like a feeble attempt to take away from that. Fortunately it won't, but yeah.

Uhh, the iPhone can only recognize two inputs simultaneously. The Surface can recognize dozens simultaneously.

So yeah, Microsoft does take away from Apple

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: cruiser1338
Two demos, same device. They did say that it was scalable and cheap though. This is limited to a table, and for a while at least, in casinos and hotels.

The iPhone is the first portable multi-touch device, and this just seems like a feeble attempt to take away from that. Fortunately it won't, but yeah.

Honestly I have a hard time seeing this used on computer devices other than maybe a tablet. If you're sitting at a computer working for 8 hours a day in front of a screen, you don't want to be hunched over moving your hands and arms all day. It would be exhausting! Not to mention how dirty your screen would get on a daily basis. Plus I think it has limited application - how exactly are you going to surf the net on it? Using a touchscreen minus a real keyboard with tactile feedback would get pretty annoying, I'd imagine. It's great for the iPhone where you're mainly sending SMS messages or using Google Maps to look up a street name, but for long-term day-to-day use on a computer system I just have a hard time imagining it being a viable alternative.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: cruiser1338
Two demos, same device. They did say that it was scalable and cheap though. This is limited to a table, and for a while at least, in casinos and hotels.

The iPhone is the first portable multi-touch device, and this just seems like a feeble attempt to take away from that. Fortunately it won't, but yeah.

Uhh, the iPhone can only recognize two inputs simultaneously. The Surface can recognize dozens simultaneously.

So yeah, Microsoft does take away from Apple

Yeah but how many fingers can you fit on an iPhone before you can't see the screen

 

[NFS4]

Surface in a work environment:

http://www.istartedsomething.com/20070502/microsoft-ciw-digidesk-demo/

 

[mooglemania85]

article

 

[FoBoT]

so they ripped off the wii remote?

 

[skace]

This looks awesome in that I'd like to make every table in my house out of this stuff and have them somehow work in a cluster.

 

[Czar]

smuuudgess

 

[Czar]

oh and one problem.. you have a royality card which identifies you... so you can even just take a photograph of the card, print it out.. lay it out on the table and it would work

but the possibilities are huge

 

[Looney]

Wow this is absolutely incredible imo. I've seen this concept before, but not all the functionality that this clip shows. I can see everybody having one of these in their home in 5-10 years.

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: Czar
oh and one problem.. you have a royality card which identifies you... so you can even just take a photograph of the card, print it out.. lay it out on the table and it would work

but the possibilities are huge

I think the card, as well as most of the things he laid on the table were ID'd by special chips? Outside of the devices that talked via Wifi and the cubes that were just recognized by the program.

Edit: Chips might not be the right word, they were stickers with some sort of idtag info on them, I think?

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: skace

Originally posted by: Czar
oh and one problem.. you have a royality card which identifies you... so you can even just take a photograph of the card, print it out.. lay it out on the table and it would work

but the possibilities are huge

I think the card, as well as most of the things he laid on the table were ID'd by special chips? Outside of the devices that talked via Wifi and the cubes that were just recognized by the program.

Edit: Chips might not be the right word, they were stickers with some sort of idtag info on them, I think?

Pretty sure he said they were RFID. So it's going to be a little more work than what Czar suggested. Certainly more work than what somebody can do with a CC now... instead of even taking a picture of a card, they can just write down the numbers and expiry date, and then go shop online.

 

[rockyct]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
so they ripped off the wii remote?

umm....what? How is this even slightly related to the wii? You may have an argument with the iPhone, but the wii...

 

[mercanucaribe]

Another Star Trek invention becomes reality!

 

[Phokus]

Hehehe, i bet mac fanboys are frothing at the mouth over this obvious ripoff of the iphone's multitouch

 

[loup garou]

Wow, very cool. Apps like the TMobile app will need to be tweaked to make them simpler -- seriously, that wasn't very intuitive -- have you ever seen the people in cellphone stores?! but the idea is very, very cool. I loved the restaurant app, although I wouldn't want to see it in every restaurant.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Phokus
Hehehe, i bet mac fanboys are frothing at the mouth over this obvious ripoff of the iphone's multitouch

If MS managed to rip off multitouch and build this prototype in the time since the iphone was announced, they have some crazy good engineers and developers.