Microsoft Surface: An Oversized iPhone?
After getting to play with Microsoft Surface (a multi-touch computing experience) for a little while, I came away super impressed. This is a product that is in late prototype stages and they are most prominently featured in the two Microsoft stores that recently opened in the US. I wanted to give you my thoughts and impressions on the technology after getting to use it and also having had a chance to chat with a representative from Splendid (the premier reseller of Surface packages).
Technologies
Let’s first go over the technology at play here so you can get a sense of how it works. The interesting part is the table itself. It registers mult-touch movements via multiple inferred cameras which allows for a group of people to access the capabilities at once. The presence of specialist objects can be detected and utilized by a software API. For example, a programmed tennis ball could be placed on the surface and be used in a multiuser, virtual, tennis match. The actual computing hardware to which the tables are connected requires only an open VGA port and a powerful GPU. At the time of interview (predating the introduction of Windows 7) the guy told me that it was running a stock Vista install with software that made shell-level customizations.
User experience
I tried to use as many of the built-in application as possible and had mixed feelings. Although it is reasonably new hardware, a found using cover-flow became a little choppy after fast scrolling and positioning and resizing images could be considerably faster. The navigation of images is positively natural, intuitive and organic.
Many people believe that Surface is just a glorified iPhone but, I can tell you, that is not the case merely due to the immense caps in power and performance. I feel highly fortunate and glad to have had a chance to get my hands on it and am thoroughly excited about future possibilities.
Your Responses
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Comment Posting Guidance
For the benefit of every non-spambot visiting, following a recent site restructuring I have some rules with regard to etiquette for comment posters. As well as making a better experience for all, they help to distinguish real people for automatic evil machine spam. Due to this, any comment that fails to follow any one of them will be considered spam and removed as soon as possible.
With thanks, Tom
- Coherent English must be used.
- This form has multiple fields for a reason. Only enter a real name or nickname in the first box i.e. "Boats For Sale" wouldn't make it. Similarly, the "Website" input is a pre-determined place to post one link so there is no need to have them in the body area. This is a common technique used by spammers and marketers and, as such is not allowed.
- Your comment must be directly related to the post to which it is a response. The idea of a post commenting system is to further the conversation that began in the given article. For instance "great post" is not a comment. My contact form can be used for suggestions or general communications.
- Responses to other comments must be civilised.
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These are fascinating. I wouldn't mind owning one as my entertainment room coffee table! :)
i am sure you have heard it before but you are an inspiration - Good luck in your future career Kind regards