Michael
May 30th, 2007, 01:45 PM
<img align="left" src="http://www.iphonealley.com/images/storyimages/may07/surface.jpg" alt="Surface" />Well, Microsoft unveiled their new product. They call it <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/surface/">Surface</a>. It's a table with a multi-touch "screen" (it's actually an image projected from behind) that can sense up to 52 points currently (though the mechanics are not restricted to this), can sense electronic devices placed on it through infrared communication, can distinguish items like drink glasses and the like, etc, all via 5 overlapping cameras in the back. They show in the demo it being used for things like playing simple games, a version of ms paint that involves a real brush, finding directions on a map, sending personalized emails, transfering digital content between things like Zunes and playing with a shiny abstract surfaces, all with the fingertips. Interestingly, the demo model uses modest computing hardware. Says <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,132352-c,futuretechnology/article.html">PC world's Melissa J. Perenson</a>:
<blockquote>
<em>"The demo unit employed a 3-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and an off-the-shelf graphics card with standard drivers (and Microsoft's own application layer to allow the GPU to help with sensing touch)."</em>
</blockquote>
As for other components, I assume that it will be similar ot their other computers. Starting prices begin between $5,000 and $10,000, and they will start targeting commercial organizations initially, but hope to have a cheaper model and more shapes and sizes in the next few years, when they will begin targeting consumers.
<em>Some words of encouragement to the Apple faithful:</em>
Impressive. Very impressive, and their timing is very good. Honestly, if there were a product Apple should worry about, it isn't a phone. Could the iPhone be affected by this? Definatly. Will it? Maybe not. Steve has been saying he's been holding something back this whole time, and he did say that they would be impressive.
Apple's screen has one major advantage over Microsofts: versatility. Remember everybody: Microsoft put theirs on a table; Apple is putting one in your pocket. As revolutionary an idea as it may be to have one big screen in your house that can do incredible things, it can't leave your house. It can't even leave the table yet; it's projector technology makes it at least 21 inches thick. It's bulky. If Apple really wanted to, they could put their screen on a variant of every product they produce, and it would have the advantage of being thinner and a far better image quality. Apple faithful, hang in there. They've got us this far through bigger messes. I bet they can think their way out of this one.
<blockquote>
<em>"The demo unit employed a 3-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 2GB of RAM, and an off-the-shelf graphics card with standard drivers (and Microsoft's own application layer to allow the GPU to help with sensing touch)."</em>
</blockquote>
As for other components, I assume that it will be similar ot their other computers. Starting prices begin between $5,000 and $10,000, and they will start targeting commercial organizations initially, but hope to have a cheaper model and more shapes and sizes in the next few years, when they will begin targeting consumers.
<em>Some words of encouragement to the Apple faithful:</em>
Impressive. Very impressive, and their timing is very good. Honestly, if there were a product Apple should worry about, it isn't a phone. Could the iPhone be affected by this? Definatly. Will it? Maybe not. Steve has been saying he's been holding something back this whole time, and he did say that they would be impressive.
Apple's screen has one major advantage over Microsofts: versatility. Remember everybody: Microsoft put theirs on a table; Apple is putting one in your pocket. As revolutionary an idea as it may be to have one big screen in your house that can do incredible things, it can't leave your house. It can't even leave the table yet; it's projector technology makes it at least 21 inches thick. It's bulky. If Apple really wanted to, they could put their screen on a variant of every product they produce, and it would have the advantage of being thinner and a far better image quality. Apple faithful, hang in there. They've got us this far through bigger messes. I bet they can think their way out of this one.