Microsoft Launches Multitouch Surface Computing

[bretm]

What it's lacking

For all the demos and slight info on MS surface web site, I can tell this is all they've got. From what I saw it does some nifty stuff and certainly has some potential. But geez, what they didn't even show was photo editing, web browsing, type recognition, a keyboard on screen.

They did send an email, but they had to type with a finger. ??? Guess hey haven't figured out how to make an on screen keyboard yet.

I'm sure it can all be done, but the limited features they show are evidence of how early on this product is.

This thing isn't ready yet. The tech is, but the software ain't. Don't expect to see this by the end of the year.

Longhorn anyone?

 

[inkswamp]

Glad to see there are several people thinking rationally. Some people root for Microsoft to fail to make Apple look better.

I like Puma shoes. Should I make sarcastic remarks and hope that Nike shoes fall apart? If you think that's stupid, take a look around.

I love this influx of MS apologists on Macrumors lately who make these attempts to defend MS. Let's flesh out your analogy, shall we?

Puma vs. Nike? It wouldn't look so strange to root against Nike if they had a long, long history of ripping off Puma's ideas and had had wild success with that tactic to the point of being a monopoly and then exerted their influence in the shoe market to stifle competition in a desperate attempt to keep other shoe makers down and prices just where they like them. Oh, and don't forget all that FUD they like to spread about the free shoe makers out there too. And don't forget the way they like to buy their way into emerging shoe-related markets they care nothing about beyond dominating them.

Yeah, it does look sort of silly, given that Nike doesn't behave anything like that.

 

[TheAnswer]

Perhaps something like what I suggested above (page 7)?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobdgil
I think when a bluetooth device comes in to range, a little arrow or some label should point in the direction of the device along the edge, to which photos etc. can be dragged. That would help with scratching etc.

Or if the devices showed up on the desktop (or were easily accessible in the iPhoto, iTunes, Address Book, etc. interfaces). I would love to have a "Grab" tool in the iPhoto tool bar on my computer and grab photos from either my already paired camera or all cameras in a 60 foot radius (if the non-paired device owner grants permission).

 

[MindlessJD]

Good, but...

Well, I was fairly impressed with something like this from Microsoft, but I'm not sure how it will take on. I enjoy sitting at my desk using a mouse and keyboard, my iMac is too far away for me to touch the screen and I don't want to be sitting too close to a 20" screen, wouldn't you struggle to see everything on it?

 

[gugy]

AMAZING!

I know is Micro$h•t but I have to take my hat off to them, Looks really cool.
Jeff Han should be working for Apple.

 

[OhEsTen]

What happens when someone sits on the thing with their pants down? Can you drag a photocopy of their bare ass to your cell phone? Now thats a good use for the thing...

Actually - all of this multi-touch stuff looks an awefull lot like the computer systems used in Minority Report.

 

[PhilippeTFD]

I wonder...

First of all, ever since I've seen Gates showing of this technology I've been wanting to see more of this... I remember him taking out a business card and placing it on the table whereas the "surface" read this business card and copied all the information, he could then just drag it to his recognized cell phone etc... I think it's really a great innovation, maybe not as such but you'd have to admit that Microsoft is making an innovative use of the technology !
BUT I can't help but wonder, even though "surface" isn't even soon to be found around living rooms anywhere, how can people start making actual use of this intended "public enviroment" use? Do we all have to buy compatible cell phones, wireless digital cameras etc... No we're not ! For the first ten years (at least) to come, even though if we could make use of our existing hardware, we'll be a long long way from having these "entertaining tables" in the neighbourhood, and since it contains all kinds of personal information, will we have all those nagging VISTA security requests all the time ? Like : " You have introduced a new cell phone on the surface, cancel or allow"
And I know for sure that playing around with music and sharing it over a tabletop could be fun ! But don't expect it to work with an iPod or iPhone now
And for all it's worth, this technology would maybe actually get us all away from our desktop and engaging more in a social digital life in the far future... although it raises a lot more privacy concerns just beyond the thought "oh this is a great product' : Are you willing to put you're most private companion like your cell phone just on a public table where the table could easily "suck out" all of your private information? Are you willing to put your credit card on the table without being able to privately validate your purchase ? Especialy in a bar, after a few drinks...
Let's wait and see, anytime soon, these concers will pop up everywhere...
Let Microsoft pull out there "service pack cards" and put them out on the table...

 

[elppa]

An affordable price?!


On another note, how many of you have actually watched the two videos (linked conveniently below) showing off the Surface?

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9723647-1.html?tag=cnetfd.mt <-- This one's even better than the first

Agreed, looks very nice and the UI is surprisingly well polished.

The MS videos on the official site were cringe making.

I also noticed that none of the devices were turned on, when they were syncing/downloading. I noticed on used casually flicking a song from her Zune to her friends Zune. DRM? Please. (Edit: I see this functionality is earmarked for "in the future")

They were also full a bulls*t buzzwords and hype, like:

"lives where people gather"
"family-style" - What is that meant to mean?
"has fundamentally changed the way we interact" — No it hasn't, will change might be more credible.
"during the social hour" — Only one?
"entertainment is king"
"leisure is the rule, not the exception"
"everyone in"
"it will be that easy"

 

[roach]

Looks like idea for this table was proposed back in 2001 and has been in development since.

LINK

click origin link

 

[grannysmith]

Looks really nice. I'm impressed. I have no problems giving credit to MS and their partners for this.

Oh, and you guys really need to lose your hard-ons for the iPhone. It's just a fancy PDA that replaced its stylus with your finger with some added special effects and sensitivity for show. There's nothing revolutionary about it. It's just the logical evolution of PDA/phone technology.


//loves watching widescreen TV shows on my Japanese DoCoMo phone
//lives in Tokyo
/Japan was not impressed by the iPhone to say the least

 

[roach]

For all the demos and slight info on MS surface web site, I can tell this is all they've got. From what I saw it does some nifty stuff and certainly has some potential. But geez, what they didn't even show was photo editing, web browsing, type recognition, a keyboard on screen.

They did send an email, but they had to type with a finger. ??? Guess hey haven't figured out how to make an on screen keyboard yet.

I'm sure it can all be done, but the limited features they show are evidence of how early on this product is.

This thing isn't ready yet. The tech is, but the software ain't. Don't expect to see this by the end of the year.

Longhorn anyone?

Im a tablet PC user and what you said this gadget is missing, my tablet PC DOES have--I'm very sure this gadget also have those features.

 

[donlphi]

Obviously the price will not go down for some time, so home and small business use will be quite distant. I really don't think Microsoft really has any plans except to get people "motivated" to start creating apps for it (at least the plans).

From a business standpoint, I think they have come across a pretty cool device. I would be curious to see this sort of thing really take off in the near future.

I will be even more curious to see which restaurant is the first to replace their tables with these things.

Perhaps the Zurich McDonalds???

The Microsoft Texas Hold Em Championships... you wouldn't need the cameras on the tables anymore.

 

[bobdgil]

I do think it looks fun, but I still don't see how this will work in a home. I still don't see how I'm going to plug it in. There's no way I'm running an extension cord to the wall. You could wire to it through the floor, but what happens if you want to rearrange your living room? What's more, what the heck are blind people going to do?

 

[danielwsmithee]

It's cool. But did you see that it required cameras around the room to do that. Or at least identify non-wireless devices like that glass of pop. I guess the camera tech is in itself a cool piece of tech.

Did you miss the RFID tag embedded into the bottom of the glass? I think that is the coolest idea to come out of this. In five years from now everything you purchase will have an RFID tag. Imagine if your computer can recognize not only that an item is sitting on it but exactly what it is as well. Pretty cool if you ask me. I think MS has done an excellent job with this product. I like some of the ideas behind what they are trying to do with the technology that has been demonstrated by many others already.

 

[Fukui]

I do think it looks fun, but I still don't see how this will work in a home. I still don't see how I'm going to plug it in. There's no way I'm running an extension cord to the wall. You could wire to it through the floor, but what happens if you want to rearrange your living room? What's more, what the heck are blind people going to do?

Interesting this was released just before Steve and Bill's upcoming duo-interview... let the gloating begin....

Anyways, looks interesting, but I'm wondering, where are all the partners? This is basically, the birth of a new computing platform, and software will be unlike anything else, so standard windows apps most likely won't run (not would you want it running) on this thing....... so, where are the software developers and hardware partners?

Seems like MS and Apple are becoming more and more alike....

 

[danielwsmithee]

They were also full a bulls*t buzzwords and hype, like ...

I agree that MS still sucks at marketing, but hey I thought this was a decent application of the technology that Apple chose to apply to mobile devices.

 

[elppa]

I agree that MS still sucks at marketing, but hey I thought this was a decent application of the technology that Apple chose to apply to mobile devices.

And if you read my post then you will see I agree.

The third party videos do a much better job than Microsoft's own marketing efforts.

 

[a456]

Interesting concept. But now I have to stay in my living room simply working with photos and such? Will it ever see a mainstream use? We will see. Always like seeing new ideas. So that is a good thing.

I think that to call this unoriginal is laughable, it is a great product (or has the potential to be). I do agree with the above though that the living room is not really the place for this - couldn't they produce a version that was orientated as a drawing board - far less backache. Problem is MS is a designer orientated company, which puts it in danger of just being a very expensive toy when in fact it should revolutionize how we work. However, this thing isn't out until the winter. If Apple hit us with a new kind of 30" iMac drawing board that can be tilted to any position, then things get interesting.

 

[darwen]

The announcement was the software... not the hardware. This is vaporware. How does it connect to the devices/objects? It cant yet.

 

[bkvideography]

Like apple does anything revolutionary at all. Wow, mac mini! oh wait, can't get one now because they failed. The iphone is garbage and isn't **** either.

Mac fans are the most screwed up people on the planet. They think Apple invented computing or something.

If apple made "Surface", you would be masturbating to it and saying how Microsoft ain't ****. Oh wait, you are doing that anyway.

Macs are okay, but mac fans are marketing ****tards.

I agree to some extent, some mac fans see everything apple comes out with as something new. You should try and make a slightly more mature argument, and not talk like a 6th grader.

Since you decided to make it personal, my opinion is that apple products are much easier to use than most other products, and are very good at being seamless. Additionally, I don't think anyone can match Apple's revolutionary UI.

I think from reading your argument, we know where your mind's at BRO.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

So, you are comparing a cell-phone with 3.5" screen to a table with 30" screen, and declare the former a winner? is it just me or are these two products totally different in just about every possible way? The only thing they have in common is multi-touch. But that does not mean that the two are in any shape or form comparable.

If you really think that Surface and iPhone are somehow similar, you are suffering from some kind of serious head-trauma.

Well - lets see. The new thing here is MULTITOUCH. And what I am saying is that Apple does this today in a portable and affordable device and that they could without any doubt put it into a portable or a desktop computer because they do have the MULTITOUCH technology at a acceptable price point available today.

 

[GregA]

I think Apple will do more and more with multitouch, maybe someday including a "real" tablet Mac, but I do NOT see Apple doing anything with multitouch in their clamshell laptops, iMacs or desktop displays. It would be an expensive gimmick without enough reason to exist, and with huge drawbacks--from arms getting tired to screens getting smudged. Smudges (and even scratches) are OK on a phone you use for short times. Not so OK at the center of your computing life. So do NOT expect multitouch to be a big deal in Leopard. The big deal is the iPhone and future devices, not everyday use of regular Macs.

A touch screen system tacked onto the current Mac (or Windows) OS WOULD make your hands tired. And it would be slower. Right now, you can flick your hand slightly to the right and move a whole screen length.

Touch screen use simply doesn't neatly fit with our existing interaction methods.

But that doesn't mean that a new form of interaction wouldn't be incredibly useable.

If only Microsoft put this kind of innovation into Vista. Hint hint.

They can't. They don't control the hardware. These systems require tight integration and vision in both hardware and software development - and this is something Apple can do much more easily than Microsoft.

I don't think Apple would have ever put out something like this. Overall, the technology looks great but the concept of dropping it into a table... WTF?

It's one way of MS exploring and developing a new form of interaction and keeping it within its control.

It's also interesting that the table doesn't seem to actually store information. It's about coordinating and moving the info that's on your devices and on the web. Nicely done.

 

[halhiker]

And the first malware will take how long?

I would imagine that if you lay your handkerchief on it, it'll automatically get a virus.

 

[Evangelion]

Well - lets see. The new thing here is MULTITOUCH. And what I am saying is that Apple does this today

No they don't. iPhone is still vaporware. And it seems to me that the multitouch in iPhone does maybe 20% of what multitouch in Surface does, mostly due to different form-factors (30" screen gives you a lot more possibilities than 3.5" screen does). So you could say that multitouch in Surface does everything multitouch in iPhone does, and more. And there are other things here as well, like how Surface communicates with devices. Multitouch in iPhone only communicates with your fingers, multitouch in Surface communicates with devices as well.

in a portable and affordable device and that they could without any doubt put it into a portable or a desktop computer because they do have the MULTITOUCH technology at a acceptable price point available today.

They COULD, but it's a different thing that will they. I personally hope that they will, and I expect that they will. In fact, I have made predictions in the past that iMac is moving to multitouch. But fact still remains that Microsoft introduced this product before Apple did. Should we lambast Micrsofot because "Apple could do this as well". Well, Nokia COULD have designed a product similar to the iPhone, therefore Apple and iPhone sucks!

 

[Evangelion]

Additionally, I don't think anyone can match Apple's revolutionary UI.

It seems that Surface already matches that revolutionary UI, albeit in a different kind of product. And Jeff Han certainly matches Apples UI.

Yes, I love the UI in iPhone. But that does not mean that I should not see value in the UI in Surface or in Jeff Han's demos. Why should we raise iPhone to a pedestal while ignoring everything else?