May 29, 2007 9:01 PM PDT
Microsoft hopes 'Milan' table PC has magic touch
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But if this machine were running the game, you could just take your finger and flick away the monsters chasing the heroine.
Microsoft on Wednesday is taking the wraps off "Milan," more than five years in the making and the first in what the company hopes will be a long line of "surface computers." The Microsoft Surface tabletop PC, for which the company has created both the hardware and software, offers shades of the technology seen in the sci-fi thriller Minority Report. The whole unit is controlled entirely through touch; there's no mouse or keyboard.
To paint, people can pick up a paint brush or just dip their fingers in virtual paint cups. Sharing photos is similarly intuitive. A stack of pictures can be easily sorted through and shared. To resize a photo, just stretch two fingers apart. Pivot the fingers and the image rotates. More than one person can be interacting with the computer at a time.
"It's very approachable," said Pete Thompson, the former T-Mobile executive who runs Microsoft's surface-computing business. "You just want to touch it."
Although consumers will be able to touch it later this year, most won't be able to buy a surface computer any time soon.
The expensive components required to allow multiple users to touch the device simultaneously give it a price tag approaching $10,000. As a result, Microsoft isn't targeting homes initially, though it hopes consumers can own their own Milan within three to five years. For now, Microsoft is focusing on getting the products into public spaces in the hospitality arena--hotel lobbies, restaurants, and casinos, to name a few.
The company's initial customers are cellular carrier T-Mobile, which will use the units in its retail stores; hotel operator Starwood, which owns brands including Sheraton and Westin; casino owner Harrah's and slot game maker IGT. Each of the initial partners should have a few initial machines up and running around November, Thompson said.
Thompson said the roll-out approach is similar to that taken by the tech industry with plasma displays, which were used in trade show booths for years while they were still too costly for the home.
Video: Microsoft unveils touch-screen computing
Giant tabletop PC blends reality with virtual reality.
Sheraton Vice President Hoyt Harper said Microsoft's tactic is pretty savvy, noting that many guests who might see the product in a Sheraton lobby could easily be among those who will buy one when it finally does go on sale widely. "I think that's one reason they chose us," he said.
Harper said the computers fit perfectly into his company's efforts to turn its hotel lobbies into destinations rather than merely places people stop on their way somewhere else. That, he said, makes them easily worth their high price tag.
"How can you not take advantage of something that could materially change the guest experience in the lobby?" Harper asked. Initially, Sheraton plans to have three Milan machines at hotels in New York, Boston and Chicago, with two in each lobby and one in the club lounge. If that means folks are lining up, he said, all the better.
"It will be a nice problem to have," he said.
Another consideration, in addition to cost, is how well Milan holds up to wear and tear. Harrah's CIO Tim Stanley wants to make sure the machines are built to last before he starts placing them in casinos on the Vegas strip.
If he puts one in the Pure nightclub, for example, "they might dance on (the) table," he said. "Can it handle that?"
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for being a commodity player with little ability to innovate or even
create a quality product, all I can say is wow. The Microsoft-camp
definitely has a feather to put in their cap with the Milan. Let's hope
it doesn't take too long for these things to filter down into the
consumer market.
demo of this technology. This study was funded by Apple &
others.
Apple has patented their version of Multi-Touch with the iPhone,
but that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Leopard OSX 10.5 has been "optimized" for Multi-Touch apps &
Apple has been researching Multi-Touch displays as well...
Multi-Touch OSX & iPhone are less than a MONTH away, yet MS
has been in "R&D" mode for FIVE YEARS on Milan...WHY did they
choose NOW to talk about this?
MS : great pitch / no follow through.
Apple : delivers the home run.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Multi
+Touch&search=Search
http://www.apple.com/iphone/technology/
iPHONE + Multi-Touch technology at January 2007 Keynote
Address :
http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/j47d52oo/event/
http://www.research.philips.com/initiatives/entertaible/index.html
I am sure Milan will be a big hit, just like Zune.
iPod Converter
http://www.ipodconverter.com
Kiosks have been around for a while so while this is really not a new concept the idea of the OS being touch-centric is. But to really use this technology it will have to be as high a resolution of commercially available graphics pads yet not as expensive.
Good luck with this.
Will last about six year and won't earn enough money in itself to fund the real jewel microsoft obviously wants a piece of one that projects holographically up and that you can touch.
However that version is going to take a lot and it's no suprise this model won't really wash the sides on funding the biggy.
But hey its an addition to the cabinet.
How ever mini PC's and mobile gadgets are well capable of doing **** loads of things especially with a brain like windows in them and that comment from the head of RandD saying about the only thing on the big market for mobiles was the standard model.
One bad decision if ever there was one.
Obviously no one thort of what a mini DLP could do for Gates eyes given a good spectrum, some rifined omega 3 oils, a few carotine and advancments to the bateses method plus super safty testing.
Hey it beats a laser anyday and work to better eyes for life.
feedback support (which it does not have).
Other technologies will overtake it fairly quickly. Brain-wave
translation and application looks to be more fruitful than this.
Once again, Apple beats Microsoft to market, and C|Net can't help
but fall all over the gang from Redmond.
This announcement has more to do with Gates' insecurity about
being on stage with Jobs tonight at the D conference.
They "innovated" an mp3 player by copying the existing ones out there, slapping someone else design for a scroll wheel on it and licencing MS patents for the interface.
That's it. Two products. What? Is there something else even worth mentioning? If you talk about their servers or apple TV everyone will fall over laughing.
Are people so blindly in love with Apple that they can never ever possibly give MS the props? Milan's interface isn't the slightest bit impressive but you'll have an orgasm over the iPhone's? Recognize your bias people.
MS has already gotten the Milan to market too. Note the hotel branding on the demo units. iPhone (without multitouch) isn't even out yet.
Do MS fanbois come jumping on Apple articles the way you guys do? Did Jobs tell you during a sermon to go forth and be zealots like this?
It's a pretty neat product. You (meaning rational people) have to admit.
"The Microsoft Surface tabletop PC, for which the company has created both the hardware and software,"
.... that's a recipe for disaster. I'll bet this thing won't perform half as well as advertised and has the same poor quality of any other M$ product. At $10k, this thing is a novelty item at best- Only a few corporations and geeks with too much money to spend will buy one.
- Very cool
-
by rcrusoe
May 30, 2007 8:45 AM PDT
- But when Microsoft ever be able to delivery this technology to the home consumer?
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See all 116 Comments >>As slick as this is, the company that can deliver a consumer product is the one that is going to get the glory.
If this is only used for hotels, casinos, kiosks, etc. then it will be as meaningless to the average person as the OS in an ATM or self check out.
Let the hype begin!