Thursday, 31 May 2007

Microsoft Launches New Product Category: Microsoft Surface

Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer is planning to roll out Microsoft Surface. Surface turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, dynamic surface that provides effortless interaction with all forms of digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. Beginning at the end of this year, consumers will be able to interact with Surface in hotels, retail establishments, restaurants and public entertainment venues, the company is quoted to have said.

“With Surface, we are creating more intuitive ways for people to interact with technology,” Ballmer said. “We see this as a multibillion dollar category, and we envision a time when surface computing technologies will be pervasive, from tabletops and counters to the hallway mirror. Surface is the first step in realising that vision.”

According to the company, surface computing, which Microsoft has been working on for a number of years, features four key attributes:

• Direct interaction: users can actually “grab” digital information with their hands, interacting with content by touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.
• Multi-touch: surface computing recognises many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger like a typical touch-screen, but up to dozens of items at once.
• Multi-user: the horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.
• Object recognition: users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content.