Microsoft TouchWall – Experience the Difference
It seems to be an era of touch technology, where fingers can do wonders on a screen than merely pressing them on a boring keyboard. And it is none other than Microsoft who plays the pioneering role in continuously regenerating their touch screen technology – from tabletop Surface computers to the all new Microsoft TouchWall.
It was all excitement let loose when the recently retired Microsoft CEO, Bill Gates showcased the TouchWall for the first time in the recently concluded Microsoft CEO Summit. The TouchWall technology from Microsoft has surprisingly come at a time when the world is applauding the much-awaited yet astounding debut of Microsoft Surface.
If one remembers correctly, it was not so long ago when the then Microsoft chief had announced the launching of the Surface technology to the much amazement of the technology freaks around the world. The tabletop Surface computer was first of its kind of technology, which took user interactivity to new heights with the appropriate convergence of the virtual world with real life experiences.
There has been quite a debate over the tactile interfaces, used in Surface tabletop computers. While there was an earlier announcement about the upcoming Windows 7 to feature all the interfaces; Apple Inc. can very well be lauded for have created the most thriving tactile computer till date , i.e. the iPhone. iPhones are one of the very first successful interpretation and integration of touch technology or Multitouch which allows file browsing, web surfing, zooming, and rotating pictures, with just the movement of your fingers.
In Bill Gates words, TouchWall is “intelligent whiteboard”. This device operates almost similarly to the iPhone – pinch to zooming and swoosh fingers for movement. To the amusement of all the delegates at the Summit, Gates displayed the easy navigation around a complex word document filled with multimedia, with the help of the interface.
The TouchWall allows you to flip through pages of a Word document, showing off various touch effects; while a PowerPoint document can be presented with astounding flair with moving around and zooming-in on select features. However, the most fascinating part of TouchWall is the pen feature, which allows you to circle items, or jot notes, all with your finger.
The gathering was impressed with the easy user interactivity of the interface; and it did not take the Microsoft CEO to categorically, raise his hopes for the TouchWall to become a vital tool for use with Microsoft Office’s next iteration.
Announcements ceo bill gates microsoft Touch wall microsoft surface Multi touch Tech technology freaks touch screen technology touch technologyMicrosoft Surface Hits the Entertainment Zone
It was D-day for Microsoft Surface, as its much-awaited debut finally created history in a Las Vegas casino bar. It was a perfect party night for revelers who just could not stop gushing at the hi-tech tabletop computer, which entertained guests over food and spirits.
And all this has been possible because of Harrah’s Entertainment Inc, which commissioned six Microsoft Surface computers tailor-made for a bar at its Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. A Harrah’s spokesperson confirmed that it has customized the software to be installed in the casino bar and fitted it with cameras to give real life experience to the guests who could order drinks, create cocktail recipes with their choicest liquor and even know interesting facts about the origin of the wine. One of the other interesting aspects of Surface computers is that you can even take a virtual tour of the vineyard sitting in the iBar.
The application of Microsoft Surface was widely anticipated in the entertainment zone, as reports of its interesting hotels and restaurant usability made rounds since the inception of this tabletop computer. It was perhaps this excitement, which led partygoers throng the Sin City Rio All-Suite casino bar in unexpectedly large numbers on the debut night.
Harrah’s Entertainment cites this as an encouraging trend where entertainment and technology makes for a spirited cocktail. In fact, this can be considered as Harrah’s, one of the strategic decisions to introduce Microsoft surface in the casino bar, which turns tabletops into touch-controlled computer displays; soon after telecom giant AT&T
registered success with it in retail stores.
The customized tabletop computer confirms Harrah’s also comes integrated with a ‘Flirt’ feature. This not only lets people switch over original messages or choose from suggested come-on lines, but also opens up endless possibilities to entertainment and life.
A promotional feature for Microsoft Surface’s debut in the swanky casino bar invites people to take a virtual stroll along the renowned Las Vegas strip sitting in the comforts of the iBar, besides spending time playing games over the computers or watch online videos.
This is in fact a successful convergence of technology and entertainment. As Tim Stanley, Vice President (Innovation, Gaming and Technology), Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. puts it ‘this breakthrough concept is aimed at giving a new genre of guests chances to discover unrestrained excitement’. However, not to forget, Microsoft’s first $10,000 deal of the Surface technology product in the entertainment sector.
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A few weeks ago, it was reported that Bill Gates and Microsoft were going to go ahead with Multitouch technology in a way that they had not contemplated before. In essence, they were going to combine Multitouch technology with their flagship Windows operating system software, allowing people to experience both in a way that would hopefully make up for the fiasco that was Windows Vista.
Now, as the All Things Digital Conference has come and gone, the picture is starting to get clearer regarding exactly what Microsoft intends to do. Depending on who you are, the news is either very good or somewhat disappointing.
As far as the best estimates go, Multitouch technology on Windows 7 is not going to be all-encompassing. Rather, it will include elements that made Multitouch technology great in the first place. These elements include things like the resizing of different photographs, the tracing of routes on maps to get directions and the painting of different pictures through direct touch with the screen. In essence, specific elements that are obvious places for Multitouch to be introduced will see the functionality installed, while the main part of the system will still be maintained by traditional mouse control.
Depending on how that is interpreted, Multitouch could potentially be seen as a basic alternative to the mouse or it could be seen as an augmentation to the mouse for people that would like to slowly move over. The only sure thing at the moment is that conventional mouse and keyboard interfaces will still be around for a long time to come. This appears to be the message that Microsoft has sent with their latest demonstration of the Windows 7 Multitouch technology.
Microsoft MultiTouch Multitouch technology Touch technology windows 7Microsoft to take over MobiComp
MobiComp may or may not be a company that you have heard of before, but this company operating out of the country of Portugal might be the next step forward for the Microsoft Multitouch revolution.
MobiComp is a company that is not very originally named, since the company focuses primarily on mobile applications. At the current moment in time, the company has been around for less than a decade but has been able to develop three mobile applications that allow for enhanced functionality on the mobile level. The Portuguese company seems to have a talent for coming up with good mobile applications, which is perhaps the main reason as to why Microsoft went out of their way to acquire MobiComp.
While Microsoft will not say as much out loud, they are desperate when it comes to the mobile market. Their operating system was not worth anything to mobile users in terms of increased efficiency and with Apple’s release of products like the iPhone, it is quite clear that the mobile market was Apple’s re-entry into the computer game. Microsoft, through its own ineptitude, allowed the practically dead Apple Company back into the market and now they are reeling as Apple goes on the offensive and starts cutting into their sales.
Microsoft appears to be serious in their rhetoric about regaining some of the market. The acquisition of MobiComp appears to be a means to that end. The combination of Microsoft’s mobile Multitouch technology and the mobile applications of MobiComp suggest products in the future that might be in a position to challenge Apple for the mobile market.
Business Microsoft microsoft mobicomp Mobile mobile applications mobile marketWindows Multitouch Proves to be More than a Rumour
One of the most interesting things about the technology industry is that no matter what the news story is, there will be people either claiming it to be nothing but a speculative rumour or else a devious conspiracy theory of some kind. When the Windows 7 concept first hit the news channels, there were many people that came into the camp of the rumour, believing that it was too soon for Microsoft to have done anything in the realm of Multitouch functional software.
A recent All Things Digital conference held in late May has proved that to be completely false.
Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, the two names that have been most associated with Microsoft over the course of the company’s history, banned together as they have done throughout the whole Multitouch adventure and demoed the aspects of Windows 7 that had already been figured out. Based on that demo, we can now conclusively say that the Windows 7 software system will have Multitouch technology when it actually hits the store.
What does this prove? Well, for starters, it proves that Microsoft is starting to understand how the Multitouch market works and is starting to adapt their products and services to cater to that market. Windows 7 represents a mainstream push on the part of Microsoft and Multitouch, something that the Surface never came close to achieving even at the best of times.
Surface NewsWindows 7 to Include Multitouch Features
Multitouch as an overall technology has really taken the world by storm, although that really has a lot more to do with Apple than it does with Microsoft. When people consider the Apple accomplishments in the field of Multitouch, the immediate conclusion that is reached has to do with the idea of Multitouch technology on the iPhone, one of the most successful computer hardware mobile products ever created.
Multitouch has almost single-handedly allowed Apple back into the game and that is exactly why Microsoft has decided to get very serious with it, dedicating the biggest change introduced in Windows 7 as being one that has a lot to do with Multitouch technology.
Specifically, Microsoft is going to be introducing Multitouch functionality into the Windows 7 system, a sure sign that Microsoft has a number of things planned for Multitouch at some point in the near future. This is not surprising news in the least, but it is definitely news that goes a long way towards showing intent on the part of the highest echelon of power at Microsoft.
By incorporating Multitouch technology into their main flagship product, Microsoft has stated a desire to move beyond specialty products like the Surface and towards mainstream products that everyone can afford to buy. One can expect these mainstream products to start including Multitouch functionality at some point in the near future, since the operating system that will be running on those products will most certainly be able to support it.
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When the Multitouch concept initially came to fruition, one of the major points of speculation for all in the industry was just how far Multitouch was going to go. The computer had been controlled by the keyboard and mouse for as long as it had been available in normal consumer form and for that reason creating a revolution in input design was going to be harder than many people were thinking.
While the revolution of Multitouch technology has not come to pass, there are a number of different people that see it coming at some point in the near future. With Microsoft releasing details about making Multitouch compatible with the next version of Windows and Apple racing ahead to create more products that use the technology, people seem to be continuing along the path to Multitouch dominance.
While that is certainly something for the average computer geek to be proud of, at the same time it is also important for that average geek to realize that there are still alternatives in the market that could demolish Multitouch before it gets anywhere near the top of the input method world. Multitouch will be facing stiff competition from keyboard and mouse input methods along the whole way and of course there will be alternatives such as voice recognition software and virtual reality input methods to contend with along the road.
The simple moral of the story is that while the Multitouch revolution is starting to look more likely with each passing day, it is also important to remember that at this stage it is by no means a sure thing.
iphone microsoft surface Multi touch Tech MultiTouch Multitouch Alternatives Multitouch concept Multitouch revolutionMultitouch DIY Products Continue to Proliferate
One of the most popular aspects of the Microsoft Multitouch technological revolution appears to be the do it yourself aspect to the technology that is starting to sweep across the nation. In a rather weird twist for the Microsoft Surface computer, rather than Surface sales numbers going up, it appears that a number of different people have started creating their own Multitouch interfaces and saving themselves a lot of money in the process.
You know that the DIY craze has gotten to ridiculous levels when Microsoft begins to get involved.
But that’s exactly what has happened. Perhaps taken aback at the backlash against their $10,000 Surface computer in the form of DIY Multitouch proliferation, Microsoft has introduced the Microsoft TouchWall. This handy piece of hardware will actually give you the chance to set up a Microsoft Multitouch display on one of your walls, putting the whole device together yourself. It is shipped in pieces and assembled by you, including the three infrared lasers that make the whole thing work. Microsoft’s DIY TouchWall product will give you a very significant discount over the Surface and it represents an effort by the technology giant to gain back some of the market share that the Surface has lost to DIY products.
The main problem with TouchWall is that most of the people that use computers are not DIY people. Putting together a desktop computer is enough for most consumers, but putting together an entire wall Multitouch display is not something that many will likely go for. This is why Multitouch has yet to penetrate into the market at large in desktop form (the only really successful Multitouch product was the iPhone and that is not a desktop device) and why the status quo is likely to remain in effect until someone creates a more affordable version of the Surface computer.
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There are a number of different reasons to love the Microsoft Surface computer. The innovative technological nature of the device comes to mind, as does the fact that it can do so many different things that your current desktop computer can not do. Of course, one reason that many companies say they love it is because they think that it will completely revolutionize the way that retail is done.
But stop for a moment; will it really do that?
There are certainly aspects to the Microsoft Surface computer that will completely change how retail is done. The ability to place a product on the computer and get instant information at your fingertips about that product is definitely something that is cool and it is a novelty that many customers will definitely find enriching.
But at the same time, what happens when the novelty wears off? Customers are likely to see higher prices because of the added cost of purchasing and maintaining the energy guzzling, extremely expensive Surface machine. Will those customers consider the added cost as palatable because of the excellent increase in service they get from the Surface? That seems to be the main question surrounding the debate as to whether or not the Microsoft Surface has the ability to change retail fundamentally.
AT&T tried out the Surface in five of their stores and so far it has been a smashing success, but a lot of that admittedly has to do with the novelty factor. While the use of Multitouch technology, when it becomes affordable universally in the future, will definitely change the way retail stores operate, it is difficult to say with certainty right now whether it will be the Surface that makes the breakthrough or else a later Multitouch machine.
microsoft surface at AT&T stores Microsoft Surface Technology microsoft surface computer Surface NewsIs Microsoft’s Multitouch Already Obsolete?
Multitouch technology has really inspired the modern world and ever since the implementation of Multitouch both on the iPhone by Apple and on the Surface by Microsoft, Multitouch technology has really been all that the world can talk about. Whether you look on blogs or within the electronic magazines of the day, Multitouch appears to be the technology of choice that is worth discussing across the electronic sphere of influence.
Oddly enough however, Multitouch technology, arguably developed first by Microsoft, appears to already be at a time when it is getting obsolete. While we love to joke about the computer that you buy being obsolete by the time you leave the store with it, strange things in computer labs appear to be giving a shred of truth to this notion as far as the Microsoft Surface computer is concerned.
And interestingly enough, these strange things are from a Microsoft computer lab!
A lab that Microsoft has in Cambridge has just reported that they have created a system that not only allows touch interaction like Multitouch technology, but it also happens to allow you to twist, bend, pull and squeeze different parts of the interface in order to make certain things happen. As one person put it, this is almost like Multitouch on steroids.
While this is something that should make many people excited, a word of caution is necessary because this is not even in the prototype stage yet. Eyes need to be kept on further developments to see if anything more comes from this Multitouch on steroids technology.
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