Microsoft Surface (I want!)

[Rozzer]

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

 

I so want one of these looks fun

 

Ross

[krisd32]

they look expensive!!!!!

but the fun possibilties could be endless!!!!

[DevilsAdvocate]

That looks well cool!

 

Rob.

[Heebeejeebee]

Cool !!

 

Gimmy Gimmy

 

HBJB

[dezt]

That is too good, i want one for my living room.

 

Best start saving

[CyberNerd]

but does it play pacman in cocktail mode?

[Rozzer]

Old school arcade games

[unixman]

Great website; it won't load saying I need flash 8 (I have flash 9), so here's a link to the story http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,39287279,00.htm in case anyone else is in the same boat.

[Kained]

Great, now how do you reboot it when it gets a BSOD?

[localzuk]

I have to say, if Microsoft produce a stable product from this then they will have been innovative here!

 

Anyone seen the movie 'The Island' and think of the desk the Dr on that has?

[ConTheITGuy]

Makes me think of Minority Report! (But no, I haven't seen The Island!)

 

 

Andy

[srochford]

Great website; it won't load saying I need flash 8 (I have flash 9), so here's a link to the story http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,39287279,00.htm in case anyone else is in the same boat.

 

You might not have flash9 - there are problems with the upgrade and sometimes even though 9 appears to have installed cleanly it hasn't. There is a flash removal tool on the Adobe web site - try removing flash and then reinstalling it.

 

If you find out how to do this cleanly on a large number of machines, please can you let me know - we need to do it here :-) (It's worked fine on the student computers - probably because they are all the same image - but won't work on our staff computers!)

[ZeroHour]

More General Chat forum I thinks but yeh its cool

[kingswood]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKh1Rv0PlOQ

 

Microsoft. Innovative? I guess not on this occasion. Again.

 

I remember seeing these kinds of demos two years ago by HP and others. It's actually gimmiky. I mean- what is the real application here? I rather think it has more to do with Microsoft's push into the new credit card territory than it does innovation in computing.

 

Time will tell.

[localzuk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKh1Rv0PlOQ

 

Microsoft. Innovative? I guess not on this occasion. Again.

 

I remember seeing these kinds of demos two years ago by HP and others. It's actually gimmiky. I mean- what is the real application here? I rather think it has more to do with Microsoft's push into the new credit card territory than it does innovation in computing.

 

Time will tell.

 

Huh? MS started this project in 2001... That was from a couple of years ago.

 

The real use here is getting rid of the methods of interfacing with computers that we currently have and replacing them with something more fluid and 'real world'.

[kingswood]

The demo was indeed from a couple of years ago. Jeff Han (the man behind the whole thing) actually started a company that leads in this area-

 

http://www.perceptivepixel.com/

 

You need to see the video there, and watch (with unbiased eyes) the one from Youtube. Irrespective- Microsoft have taken a technology that lots of folks have been working on and given it their usual commercial spin. Nothing necesarily wrong with that, it's just that I wouldn't expect anything exciting from this for several years- if not more. It has interface re-design application (of course it does) but no more than an iPhone or Tablet PC OS does right now. And they are a lot more precise (tablet PCs that is). If you are a graphics designer or work with imaging a lot (apart from home dabbling) then this kind of interfacing needs to get a hell of a lot more precise and useful than flipping cards around a screen and moving things with two hands.

 

It seems to me that the main applications here are found in the MS videos (which are pretty cool by themselves with a nicely designed web site to show it all off). Restaurants, small kiosks, photo booths, and perhaps casinos (who all can afford the extortionate price). Of course, running Windows :?

 

And as I mentioned, the new push by MS into credit card transaction changes.

 

Anyway, we will have to agree to disagree on the source of this one and enjoy the journey.