Microsoft
Surface brings computing to the
table Self-contained unit works without mouse, keyboard
One of Microsoft Corp.''s biggest secrets looks like a normal coffee table. Until it''s switched on.
After years of covert development, Microsoft
says it will release a computer that uses the tabletop as its high-resolution display, recognizes objects placed on the surface and skips the traditional keyboard and mouse in favor of fingers on the screen.
The company envisions a variety of uses. In one example, people place a card on the table to call up a virtual stack of digital photos from a computer server and then rotate, resize and spread them across the table using their hands. In another, diners split a tab by dragging icons of their meals to their credit cards.
Whether the
technology catches on remains to be seen. Microsoft isn''t the only company eyeing the
market. But in the meantime, it isn''t science fiction: Microsoft has been showing functioning models for months in closed-door sessions.
The company is slated to publicly unveil the
machine -- dubbed "Microsoft Surface" -- at a Wall Street Journal conference Wednesday.
Microsoft says businesses will start deploying the machines in retail and entertainment settings in November. Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Harrah''s Entertainment and T-Mobile are among those planning to use Microsoft Surface.
Longer term, the Redmond company says, it is aiming for the broader consumer market.
"We think this is a multibillion-dollar industry," said Pete Thompson, general manager of Microsoft Surface Computing. "We think this is something that is going to be pervasive. ... We don''t want it to be a novelty."
The product is coming out of the same area of Microsoft that develops the company''s profitable line of keyboards and mice.
However, Microsoft''s whiz-bang technologies haven''t always caught on with
consumers. Past flops include the smart watch and the Portable Media Center. Its Zune music player was a belated response to Apple''s dominant iPod. And the Tablet PC, a conceptual forerunner to the new machine, hasn''t caught on in the way Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates predicted.
In that way, the Surface machine will test anew Microsoft''s ability to strike a chord with consumers, and to expand beyond its traditional Windows and Office software businesses.
Price will be a major obstacle for the new machine to overcome if it is to catch on with mainstream consumers. Thompson declined to disclose terms of the enterprise agreements under which Microsoft is selling the machines, which include related software and services.
However, he said, "If we made this a product sale, think of it in the range of $5,000 to $10,000 per unit."
It could be three or more years before it hits the broader consumer market, he said.
"The potential is there," said Doug Bell, industry analyst with the IDC market research firm. "Once you get this into hotel rooms or consumers'' homes and you bring the price point down, the market could be there. It just needs to be created at this point."
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