http://www.microsoft.com/surface/
At least as far as I know
Quote"Update: a new tipster has come with corroborative informationâ,”see below
Nearly 100 comments, and only one guy came close. According to an assortment of unrelated sources, the best guess is that tonight at midnight, Microsoft will finally launching its PlayTable concept as a full-blown entertainment product. ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley says PlayTable, aka Project Milan is a "multi-touch, gestural- and object-recognition interface technology" that Microsoft has demoed to a lot of people lately, but mainly as technology rather than a product in development. CrunchGear suggests that, based on a demo he saw, it might be a touch-friendly game console that competes with the Wii on intuitive user interface front.
We have another source that confirms the table-ness of the announcement, but says that it will be a kiosk-type of device, meant to provide gaming entertainment and a retail interface for Zune, but that, at a cost of $10,000 a pop, it won't be something that people actually buy for their homes.
Our source doesn't name the product, but says that rather than being a touchscreen LCD, it's a rear-projection table that uses an array of projectors, all aimed up at the screen, which has a resolution of 1024x768, and will be 23 to 25 inches in size. Two or more people can use it, and it would be situated in casinos or other places. (Partnerships already allegedly formed are with Harrah's Casinos and Sheraton hotels.)
Some alleged applications:
â,¢Music - You put your music player on the table, and your credit card. Both are recognized, then you drag songs to the player. Zune is obvious first device, but potential other partner in the works. One demo used a nano. Could partner really be Apple? Let's not get carried away... yet.
â,¢Virtual Concierge - A fairly self explanatory guide program, complete with mapping programs
â,¢Food & Drink - Not just interactive menus, but glass (and presumably plate and maybe even silverware) recognition. Like Music program, it reads credit cards just by placing them on table.
â,¢Photo - A simple photo editor reminiscent of iPhoto
â,¢Puzzle - A game where you assemble actual pieces of glass on top of the table, each with a sliver of live video playing
â,¢Water - A water screensaver that you can touch to make ripples
â,¢Paint - Simple painting program that reads pressure sensitivity by judging the size of your fingerprint
The bottom line from our source is that it's very reminiscent of OSX, and also, like with Zune and Xbox, the Microsoft branding is lowkey. Its name, whatever that is, will be the center branding. It will likely not be in final form during the All Things D demonstrations.
Below I've embedded a video, brought to our attention by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, that demonstrates the sort of gestural recognition that will be found in the PlayTable (or whatever). Will I post confirmation at midnight? You bet! â,“ Wilson Rothman
Okay, as we approach the bewitching hour, more information is coming to light. A more appropriate term for the technology is Microsoft Smart Surface, which replaced the nickname "PlayTable" a long time ago. (I still like PlayTable better.) The size and shape can vary, but the demo unit scheduled for use tomorrow looks like a coffee table. Our new tips corroborate our original information in that 1) object recognition will use RFID or other near-field technology for identification of objects (a Microsoft favorite going way back) and 2) the iPod is indeed part of the equation. Apparently Zune ain't enough to get music fans revved about PlayTable, er, Microsoft Smart Surface."
Shit, that's pretty cool, for once. Though, I don't want my table going and BSODing because I'm eating Hamburger helper.
Nope. This time, it's just from Nintendo.
ignoar this poast, i red it rong
Now tell me this: Is it actually useful in any way? It just looks like something you'd toy around with for a day or two then do nothing but brag about and forget it.
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 07:56:37 AM
Now tell me this: Is it actually useful in any way? It just looks like something you'd toy around with for a day or two then do nothing but brag about and forget it.
You're just pissed off because Apple didn't make it. If they made it you'd be making imprints of you and your mac in it all day.
Anyways, it seems kinda cool, I want to try it out and see what they use it for.
Quote from: Milad on May 30, 2007, 08:08:58 AM
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 07:56:37 AM
Now tell me this: Is it actually useful in any way? It just looks like something you'd toy around with for a day or two then do nothing but brag about and forget it.
You're just pissed off because Apple didn't make it. If they made it you'd be making imprints of you and your mac in it all day.
Anyways, it seems kinda cool, I want to try it out and see what they use it for.
Useless Apple technology: Apple Media Remote.
You're just saying it's cool to be antagonistic.
Apple is working on technology that can actually be useful in some manner. Microsoft is less on the inventive side.
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 08:10:43 AM
Quote from: Milad on May 30, 2007, 08:08:58 AM
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 07:56:37 AM
Now tell me this: Is it actually useful in any way? It just looks like something you'd toy around with for a day or two then do nothing but brag about and forget it.
You're just pissed off because Apple didn't make it. If they made it you'd be making imprints of you and your mac in it all day.
Anyways, it seems kinda cool, I want to try it out and see what they use it for.
Useless Apple technology: Apple Media Remote.
You're just saying it's cool to be antagonistic.
Apple is working on technology that can actually be useful in some manner. Microsoft is less on the inventive side.
Apple has it's thigns, Microsoft has it's things.
Thought, recently, Microsoft fucked up in the OS area. It's doing fine elsewhere.
It's a giant touch screen. I'll give Microsoft points for trying something Apple hasn't tried yet, but this isn't some amazing achievement or anything.
I want one. That'd be fun to watch porn on. fap;
sexy awesome;
"Finally Microsoft comes out with something thats not directly stolen from Apple"? LOL. Microsoft has made lots of things that aren't "directly stolen from Apple." Microsoft has pumped out very good ideas within its lifetime. Keep in mind, Microsoft is more of a software company than it is hardware; thus the name Microsoft. Look at Apple's Mac OS X Leopard, amazing how Apple came up with all those awesome features, right? Leopard's "Time Machines" feature is something that was announced for Vista before Apple announced "Time Machine". Spaces? Hmmmmm... Linux has had things called workspaces for a long time now, right? Hmmmmmm. These companies are constantly copying each other and the developers of each company are well aware of it. Microsoft and Apple don't need people sticking up for them because they're very well aware of the fact that they copied and they are being copied. Companies have had some original ideas, and some not so original.
Hey, Vista and OS X both have a GUI, right? Let's get rid of that because Vista has it.
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 07:56:37 AM
Now tell me this: Is it actually useful in any way? It just looks like something you'd toy around with for a day or two then do nothing but brag about and forget it.
But they're actually doing shit, I'm sure they'll make cool things like being able to scan things by just placing a photo or image on the surface and it would copy it.
It's awesome, and I'm sure there will be more useful things for it in the future.
Quote from: Reaper on May 30, 2007, 04:08:16 PM
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 07:56:37 AM
Now tell me this: Is it actually useful in any way? It just looks like something you'd toy around with for a day or two then do nothing but brag about and forget it.
But they're actually doing shit, I'm sure they'll make cool things like being able to scan things by just placing a photo or image on the surface and it would copy it.
It's awesome, and I'm sure there will be more useful things for it in the future.
Scanners have been around for years. So have touchscreens.
Hell, you can thank Apple's Newton for popularizing the touchscreen.
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 04:09:14 PM
Quote from: Reaper on May 30, 2007, 04:08:16 PM
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 07:56:37 AM
Now tell me this: Is it actually useful in any way? It just looks like something you'd toy around with for a day or two then do nothing but brag about and forget it.
But they're actually doing shit, I'm sure they'll make cool things like being able to scan things by just placing a photo or image on the surface and it would copy it.
It's awesome, and I'm sure there will be more useful things for it in the future.
Scanners have been around for years. So have touchscreens.
Hell, you can thank Apple's Newton for popularizing the touchscreen.
Have you ever seen them be used like this?
Probably not.
Anyways, how much would an early one of these be costing?
Quote from: Milad on May 30, 2007, 04:11:45 PM
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 04:09:14 PM
Quote from: Reaper on May 30, 2007, 04:08:16 PM
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 07:56:37 AM
Now tell me this: Is it actually useful in any way? It just looks like something you'd toy around with for a day or two then do nothing but brag about and forget it.
But they're actually doing shit, I'm sure they'll make cool things like being able to scan things by just placing a photo or image on the surface and it would copy it.
It's awesome, and I'm sure there will be more useful things for it in the future.
Scanners have been around for years. So have touchscreens.
Hell, you can thank Apple's Newton for popularizing the touchscreen.
Have you ever seen them be used like this?
Probably not.
Anyways, how much would an early one of these be costing?
Combining technologies is nothing new either.
And don't expect this to ever hit the average consumers.
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 04:09:14 PM
Quote from: Reaper on May 30, 2007, 04:08:16 PM
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 07:56:37 AM
Now tell me this: Is it actually useful in any way? It just looks like something you'd toy around with for a day or two then do nothing but brag about and forget it.
But they're actually doing shit, I'm sure they'll make cool things like being able to scan things by just placing a photo or image on the surface and it would copy it.
It's awesome, and I'm sure there will be more useful things for it in the future.
Scanners have been around for years. So have touchscreens.
Hell, you can thank Apple's Newton for popularizing the touchscreen.
Everyone knows that, it's just being used differently.
Thats like saying the Wii is a piece of shit because motion sensors have been around forever.
Quote from: Milad on May 30, 2007, 04:11:45 PM
Have you ever seen them be used like this?
Probably not.
Anyways, how much would an early one of these be costing?
$10,000
Quote from: Reaper on May 30, 2007, 04:16:52 PM
Quote from: Milad on May 30, 2007, 04:11:45 PM
Have you ever seen them be used like this?
Probably not.
Anyways, how much would an early one of these be costing?
$10,000
lol nvm
ill play with them at the restaurants. D:
Quote from: Reaper on May 30, 2007, 04:16:07 PM
Everyone knows that, it's just being used differently.
Thats like saying the Wii is a piece of shit because motion sensors have been around forever.
Wii is a piece of shit. This whole generation is shit.
Quote from: Milad on May 30, 2007, 04:17:39 PM
lol nvm
ill play with them at the restaurants. D:
I wouldn't imagine seeing this outside of luxurious businesses and high end malls and stores in the technological capitals of the world. (e.g.:Tokyo, New York, Paris.)
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 04:19:56 PM
I wouldn't imagine seeing this outside of luxurious businesses and high end malls and stores in the technological capitals of the world. (e.g.:Tokyo, New York, Paris.)
I can ride the train to San Francisco whenever I want. awesome;
Anyways, I'm sure they'll eventually become popular. I mean, it's not like this thing isn't innovative. Did you even watch the videos?
Quote from: Milad on May 30, 2007, 04:30:52 PM
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 04:19:56 PM
I wouldn't imagine seeing this outside of luxurious businesses and high end malls and stores in the technological capitals of the world. (e.g.:Tokyo, New York, Paris.)
I can ride the train to San Francisco whenever I want. awesome;
Anyways, I'm sure they'll eventually become popular. I mean, it's not like this thing isn't innovative. Did you even watch the videos?
...How often do you expect to see something this large and expensive everywhere? The general public won't do much but mess around with it. Hell, there's not much of a way to profit off of it, either.
You can scan ID cards and mess around with images and such. You can get a roomful of gadgets that perform the same purpose, have them spread throughout the building, and save loads of cash.
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 04:35:21 PM
...How often do you expect to see something this large and expensive everywhere? The general public won't do much but mess around with it. Hell, there's not much of a way to profit off of it, either.
You can scan ID cards and mess around with images and such. You can get a roomful of gadgets that perform the same purpose, have them spread throughout the building, and save loads of cash.
I would think that a store that makes thousands of dollars every day (and if it doesn't, it would probably be closed down soon enough) would be able to afford something like this, and I'm talking about big name companies. One of the videos showed it being used in a phone store, and excuse me if I'm wrong, but Cingular, T-Mobile, those are some pretty big companies. I think they could afford them, and this is probably going to get big just for the sheer fact that it's more hi-tech then most anything, which a lot of the time gets it far, seeing as there isn't any competition, ie. how the PS3 isn't doing too good.
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 04:35:21 PM
...How often do you expect to see something this large and expensive everywhere? The general public won't do much but mess around with it. Hell, there's not much of a way to profit off of it, either.
You can scan ID cards and mess around with images and such. You can get a roomful of gadgets that perform the same purpose, have them spread throughout the building, and save loads of cash.
He's right, unless this becomes cheaper, there won't be many of them. They're pretty much computers but without a keyboard and mouse, and with a weird interface. Not too useful.
Quote from: Milad on May 30, 2007, 04:44:48 PM
]I would think that a store that makes thousands of dollars every day (and if it doesn't, it would probably be closed down soon enough) would be able to afford something like this, and I'm talking about big name companies. One of the videos showed it being used in a phone store, and excuse me if I'm wrong, but Cingular, T-Mobile, those are some pretty big companies. I think they could afford them, and this is probably going to get big just for the sheer fact that it's more hi-tech then most anything, which a lot of the time gets it far, seeing as there isn't any competition, ie. how the PS3 isn't doing too good.
Now, how many stores do these companies own? Would they be useful?
If I throw a Mac into a fish market, will more fish be sold? If I throw one of these massive beasts into a phone store, will more phones be sold? Will playing simple games with touchscreen controls even make them consider getting that company's phones even more? They'll know the company is wasting money, and that's about it.
Now, for for those high class restaurants, yes, it may be useful. People see they can have a good time there, so they visit more often. But if this restaurant only has one, not many people will have a chance to use it. And eventually, they will get dirty and destroyed. They'd end up spending more money to keep the customers occupied than they'd pay all of their chefs.
Quote from: Lawlz on May 30, 2007, 04:49:45 PM
Quote from: Milad on May 30, 2007, 04:44:48 PM
]I would think that a store that makes thousands of dollars every day (and if it doesn't, it would probably be closed down soon enough) would be able to afford something like this, and I'm talking about big name companies. One of the videos showed it being used in a phone store, and excuse me if I'm wrong, but Cingular, T-Mobile, those are some pretty big companies. I think they could afford them, and this is probably going to get big just for the sheer fact that it's more hi-tech then most anything, which a lot of the time gets it far, seeing as there isn't any competition, ie. how the PS3 isn't doing too good.
Now, how many stores do these companies own? Would they be useful?
If I throw a Mac into a fish market, will more fish be sold? If I throw one of these massive beasts into a phone store, will more phones be sold? Will playing simple games with touchscreen controls even make them consider getting that company's phones even more? They'll know the company is wasting money, and that's about it.
Now, for for those high class restaurants, yes, it may be useful. People see they can have a good time there, so they visit more often. But if this restaurant only has one, not many people will have a chance to use it. And eventually, they will get dirty and destroyed. They'd end up spending more money to keep the customers occupied than they'd pay all of their chefs.
You should see what people spend money on, people buy stuff like this just to say "Hey, I'm fucking loaded with money". People will buy it, also it just shows that Microsoft isn't a second Sony company, they make shit by themselves, even if it's not entirely useful to many people.
Hopefully it is just a begging for more kewl thingies
Looks pretty awesome. I remember seeing a video about this maybe a year ago. As for being practical or useful, from the videos it seems to have a very nice usage. I particularly liked ordering food with it. However I wonder how much this thing is going to cost.
Quote from: InbredPsychosis on May 30, 2007, 11:11:19 PM
Looks pretty awesome. I remember seeing a video about this maybe a year ago. As for being practical or useful, from the videos it seems to have a very nice usage. I particularly liked ordering food with it. However I wonder how much this thing is going to cost.
$10,000
Quote from: Houdini on May 30, 2007, 11:13:26 PM
$10,000
Oh shit, I just read in the quote.
I figured it wasn't going to be for a normal consumer.
Quote from: InbredPsychosis on May 30, 2007, 11:19:03 PM
Quote from: Houdini on May 30, 2007, 11:13:26 PM
$10,000
Oh shit, I just read in the quote.
I figured it wasn't going to be for a normal consumer.
At least not for a while it won't.
I remember this from Microsoft's keynote from CES. Still, as amazing and cool as it looks; I wont be wasting my money on it.
What will happen if I put my butt on it.
â,¢Food & Drink - Not just interactive menus, but glass (and presumably plate and maybe even silverware) recognition. Like Music program, it reads credit cards just by placing them on table.
What the hell would that be used for?
"I see you're eating. Would you like me to overheat to keep your mashed potatoes warm?"
Quote from: Silverhawk79 on May 31, 2007, 02:20:41 PM
â,¢Food & Drink - Not just interactive menus, but glass (and presumably plate and maybe even silverware) recognition. Like Music program, it reads credit cards just by placing them on table.
What the hell would that be used for?
"I see you're eating. Would you like me to overheat to keep your mashed potatoes warm?"
Anyways, whatever happened to making 500 copies of a menu for 25 cents? Paper menus are far cheaper and can be used by more than one person at a time.
Quote from: Lawlz on May 31, 2007, 02:22:57 PM
Quote from: Silverhawk79 on May 31, 2007, 02:20:41 PM
â,¢Food & Drink - Not just interactive menus, but glass (and presumably plate and maybe even silverware) recognition. Like Music program, it reads credit cards just by placing them on table.
What the hell would that be used for?
"I see you're eating. Would you like me to overheat to keep your mashed potatoes warm?"
Anyways, whatever happened to making 500 copies of a menu for 25 cents? Paper menus are far cheaper and can be used by more than one person at a time.
ya, and they probably don't have de-bug errors (Points at bill gates and steve jobs)