Gadget of the year

Nikolai · June 1, 2007

Home: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/
Popular Mechanics: http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=933742930

And the coolest thing on Earth: I may have a chance to work with this toy later this year:-) :ivar (fingers crossed)

Rhuarc · June 1, 2007

That really IS the coolest thing on Earth!! Holy crap, it reminds me of Minority Report!!

Nikolai · June 1, 2007

Rhuarc wrote:

That really IS the coolest thing on Earth!! Holy crap, it reminds me of Minority Report!!

Yep, I think they actually used one of the prototypes...

ivar · June 1, 2007

Rhuarc wrote:

That really IS the coolest thing on Earth!! Holy crap, it reminds me of Minority Report!!

Heh, i guess great minds do think alike.

ChrisJ · June 1, 2007

Best product out of Microsoft in years!

I've seen prototypes of this before, it will be interesting to get my hands on one and see how well it actually works.

gus · June 1, 2007

My PC crashed while i was watching the vid :cry

ChrisJ · June 1, 2007

gus wrote:

My PC crashed while i was watching the vid :cry

rofl

DJ-S1 · June 1, 2007

Damn near identical to the NYU Jeff Han video from a few years ago. We've mentioned this before here when the iPhone demo came out. How can MS (Surface) or Apple (iPhone) claim to have invented this stuff, especially when it all looks exactly the same?

Nikolai · June 1, 2007

DJ-S1 wrote:

Damn near identical to the NYU Jeff Han video from a few years ago. We've mentioned this before here when the iPhone demo came out. How can MS (Surface) or Apple (iPhone) claim to have invented this stuff, especially when it all looks exactly the same?

It *is* Jeff Han invention. Watch the second link. Apparently he auctioned it out and MS was a highest bidder. When Mr.Gates realizes somethenig is worth its weight in gold he does not have to wait for ten boards to approve his decision...

ivar · June 1, 2007

$10k

Nikolai · June 1, 2007

Ivar,

ivar wrote:

$10k

Our target audience are car dealers. If this "toy" (with our s/w:-) helps them to sell just 3-4 more cars per year(!) they'll make their money back. The rest is pure profit.
Think of a restaurant, which can use this as an attraction maker, and also show the ads (and get money from the ads makers)...
Yes, it's too expensive for an individual consumer for now, but for any med-size business that would benifit from any extra attraction/traffic it's a pure money making machine...

z_28 · June 1, 2007

Rhuarc wrote:

That really IS the coolest thing on Earth!! Holy crap, it reminds me of Minority Report!!

Our life and things we use (in all possible ways)
are designed for next 20 years, if am I good informed ?
Writers, screenwriters, directors, producers just use this mine of knowledge.
Later some of them became a cult or even profet

But real truth is - they read right sources many years BEFORE

wxwax · June 1, 2007

Nikolai wrote:

It *is* Jeff Han invention. Watch the second link. Apparently he auctioned it out and MS was a highest bidder. When Mr.Gates realizes somethenig is worth its weight in gold he does not have to wait for ten boards to approve his decision...

Someone's not telling the truth.

If this is all sounding creepily familiar, it is probably
because so far, all of this is exactly what NYU researcher
Jeff Han has been demonstrating for a year and a half now.
I've written about it several times on my Pogue's Posts blog.

This multi-touch screen is also a key feature of Apple's
iPhone. You can do the same two-finger stretching business on
its all-glass screen to zoom in on a picture or a Web page.

Microsoft's press materials and Web site coyly ignore the
existence of these earlier pioneers; when pressed, it insists
that its surface computer was developed well before Jeff Han
*or* Apple came along. Microsoft says that 120 people have
been secretly working on its version, tucked away in an off-
campus building, for five years.

Pogue
NYT

Nikolai · June 1, 2007

wxwax wrote:

Someone's not telling the truth.

Of course. What did you expect?

Apple "invented" the mouse, MS "invented" the multi-touch UI...
The history repeats itself..

The point is: it's gonna be in our lives soon...

Nikolai · June 2, 2007

Apparently, SDK has been availalable for quite some time now: welcome to Microsoft Silverlight!
Quote:

Microsoft Silverlight
(formerly known as code name “WPF/E”)

Microsoft Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET-based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web. Silverlight offers a flexible and consistent programming model that supports AJAX, Python, Ruby, and .NET languages such as Visual Basic and C#, and integrates with existing Web applications. Silverlight media capabilities include fast, cost-effective delivery of high-quality audio and video to all major browsers including Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer running on Mac or Windows. By using Expression Studio and Visual Studio, designers and developers can collaborate more effectively using the skills they have today to light up the Web of tomorrow.

I downloaded 1.0 beta runtime (tiny download) and played the samples - very cool!

saurora · June 2, 2007

ivar wrote:

$10k

Patience, Ivar........I predict in 2 years you will be able to buy one in the states at Walmart for under $1K.

ivar · June 3, 2007

saurora wrote:

Patience, Ivar........I predict in 2 years you will be able to buy one in the states at Walmart for under $1K.

oooooohh, I would like that

I have absolutely no need for it, but it looks fun to play with

Art Scott · June 3, 2007

ivar wrote:

oooooohh, I would like that I have absolutely no need for it, but it looks fun to play with

Are you sure you don't need one???????:D Tink of all the post processing thngs that could be done with the most usable and familiar of pointers clikers we have......the finger....no not these one s

but the index fingers.....I have tried pen mice for and doing signatures and other tings in post and keep coming back to my aged tablet and stylus pen....but for now that is the best for me.....I have even tried a tablet pc and decided it wasn't worth the cost....

ivar · June 3, 2007

Art Scott wrote:

Are you sure you don't need one???????

yes

BeemerChef · June 6, 2007

Even though I know that Kitchen staff would not like the concept, I always thought taking the step of an open kitchen a bit further... this gadget if used as a dining table could have the menus on, but also be linked to cameras in the kitchen... an entertaining Chef?... that would be a plus!!!
No more spitting in the food!... but that is a different thread... different Forum!!!

Be well...

Ara

gus · June 6, 2007

BeemerChef wrote:

I always thought taking the step of an open kitchen a bit further... this gadget if used as a dining table could have the menus on,
Ara

Thats what the casinos want it for real fast...you sit down & use it to order your food & play whilst you wait & then play again after food. I for one cannot see the attraction of giving money away...casinos are not in the business of losing.

kdog · June 6, 2007

What a bunch of hooey. I can hardly wait for the "blue kitchen table of death".

-joel

Rhuarc · June 7, 2007

Art Scott wrote:

Are you sure you don't need one???????:D Tink of all the post processing thngs that could be done with the most usable and familiar of pointers clikers we have......the finger....no not these one s but the index fingers.....I have tried pen mice for and doing signatures and other tings in post and keep coming back to my aged tablet and stylus pen....but for now that is the best for me.....I have even tried a tablet pc and decided it wasn't worth the cost....

The thing to go with is the $2499 21.3" CintiQ display from Wacom. I have a couple of buddies who use this thing to do some online comics, and it is to die for! 1,024 levels of sensetivity on it. Imagine the fine masking you could do with it!!

Gadget of the year

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