Microsoft Surface and the Jukebox Effect
If you want to see interesting, then you need to stop by one of the Sheraton Hotels and get a look at the Microsoft Surface Computer in action. While many people were predicting that the Surface appearing in the real world so to speak was something that would not really pan out. People would find the table interesting, but within a few weeks it would be business as usual.
Well, there is a very good reason why that will likely not happen and it is one reason that nobody really saw coming.
Working together, Sheraton and Microsoft were able to create an application to be used on the Surface computers that inhabit the lobbies of the various Sheraton hotels. The application is one that turns the Surface Computer into what can essentially be thought of as a giant jukebox. Instead of choppy sound and crappy interfaces however, you will have the ultra-modern hardware and software design of the Surface as your jukebox guide. The result is a more convenient, better quality jukebox than has ever been created before.
Why is this good? It is good because one of the stated goals of this partnership was to allow people to play their favourite songs in the hotel lobbies of the Sheratons that had the Surface Computers installed. With the jukebox program this not only becomes possible, but easy on a very large scale. One doesn’t have to think long to realize that this could easily be the most popular use for a Surface Computer in a hotel lobby.
Are Touch Screens Becoming Respectable?
With all due respect to the Microsoft Surface and the Apple iPhone, Multitouch technology is not particularly interesting to the average person on the street. I know that it’s almost heresy to suggest that touch-screen technology, perhaps the most exciting brainchild of the technological revolution, is actually not really that feasible on the larger scale of things, but that is definitely the view that people have had of the technology for a very long time.
Multitouch technology has been around for years but it is only recently that a real fire has been ignited underneath it with people really thinking about ways to bring Multitouch products to the market. Whether that was the result of the iPhone, the Surface or something else is really irrelevant at this point. What is relevant to the conversation is answering the question that was in the title of this post.
And that question is simply one of the future of Multitouch technology. It used to be a niche technology that never had any hopes of really making it big, but now it seems to be transforming itself into a technology that everyone might be using within a couple of decades. Windows 7 is set to have Multitouch capability built into it and that is definitely something that will allow people the chance to buy Multitouch interfaces and try things out.
But is it enough for Multitouch to become a respectable and mainstream technology? That seems to be the big question, but only time will tell.
Sheraton to Become Multitouch Enabled
Microsoft has continued their campaign of bringing Multitouch to every person in the nation by signing a deal with Sheraton. Under this deal, several of the key facilities under the Sheraton chain will be getting Multitouch devices in their lobbies to help visitors with several different new features.
Sheraton hotels in San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago and New York will be benefitting from the Multitouch-enabled Surface devices as they get installed in the lobbies of hotels in all five cities. These surface devices will be embedded in tables located within the lobbies and will be accessible by anyone that wants to walk into the lobby and use the computer.
Computer functionality is rumoured to be quite high as the people using the Surface computers will be able to call up information regarding the city as well as using the touch screen interface to map out routes and brainstorm different ways for them to get to where they are going. Additional travel information will also be available such as restaurant and activity guides.
Finally, people will be able to use the Surface computers available to them as modules for entertainment. They will be able to play music of many different sorts as well as show guests images of the city. In fact, there is one application installed on the computers known as City Tips, which is an application that has a completely circular view of the city. It will be one of the most comprehensive city planning aides available in the world today and it is something that Sheraton is already bragging about in their latest press releases.
Windows 7: The Great Enigma
The electronics world will never cease to amaze with the amount of intrigue that it can come up with. However, when millions of dollars are at stake on every single decision that a major company makes, we can perhaps forgive them for playing their cards close to their chest.
If this type of cagey behaviour is understandable under normal circumstances, it is perhaps especially understandable for a company like Microsoft that has had its clocked cleaned on a regular basis over the last few years starting with the Windows Vista fiasco and ending with Apple’s near-complete takeover of the mobile marketplace for electronic devices.
However, Microsoft did release something new today by launching a blog for Windows 7. This blog will be written by people getting their talking points directly from Steven Sinofsky, the person that is the de facto head of the Windows 7 project.
According to Sinofsky, the blog is intended to bridge the gap between the current complete lack of knowledge regarding Windows 7 (aside from the much ado about nothing announcement regarding the fact that it will have Multitouch functionality, something that was already expected) and the October 27 Professional Developers Conference during which more details will be released regarding the new operating system in development.
The bottom line is that people that want real information regarding the details of Windows 7 will likely be put on hold until October 27th. However, if you want more bits and pieces to try and put things together yourself, maintaining an eye on the Windows 7 blog might definitely be a good idea.
Microsoft’s Sphere Puts Future Gaming in New Light
Microsoft did unveil their spherical Multitouch technology at a recent demo and a number of the different things the spherical surface can do has gotten people talking about the possibilities. While the demo of the Sphere has reignited interest in Microsoft, one of the major areas that have been speculated on recently is gaming.
One of the aspects of the Sphere demo involved a game of pong. This game of pong was, to put it mildly, absolutely ridiculous. There were two circles traveling across the surface of the sphere and the person doing the demo was able to use their hands in contact with the surface to influence the direction of the balls, allowing for a fully spherical and three dimensional game of pong to be played. This was truly amazing and definitely something that is worth seeing in video format across the internet.
However, what does it mean for the future of the computer gaming industry? With spherical surface technology, a number of different things are possible. People can play real time strategy games with a whole new way of thinking and of course old classics can be reinvented in weird and wacky ways just as pong was in the gaming demo that was given by the Microsoft representative. The possibilities for gaming appear endless and because of that many have begun to hypothesize what this type of interface could bring.
In this area at least, it appears as though Microsoft has been able to create new ideas out of thin air and tie all of those ideas to a product they and they alone are currently working on.
Microsoft Unveils Multitouch Sphere
Since the unwitting leak that lead to massive speculation regarding the Multitouch Sphere that Microsoft had been working on, the device has actually been demoed. There are many different videos circulating the internet at the moment that discuss the different parts of the demo, but suffice it to say that Microsoft has drummed up more interest in Multitouch and their own company than they have seen in years.
The Sphere did a number of different things, but it is perhaps the omni-directional nature of the sphere that has so many people interested in it. Microsoft employees were able to broadcast omni-directional video onto the sphere, allowing you to take a look at 360 degrees of camera action on the surface of the sphere. In addition to that, you could take a look at a map of the world in globe format, manipulating the map and zooming into and out of specific features with the use of your hands.
There was even a demo of a picture sorting software package that Microsoft has come up with. Using this package, you can have a pile of pictures placed at the top of the sphere and a number of people sorting through those pictures while standing around a sphere. With all of the wow factor that the sphere’s demo brought, there are still some questions as to the practicality of the sphere. After all, why stand around a sphere and sort pictures when you can sit at a table and do the exact same thing?
Microsoft’s new Zune Phone
The Zune Phone is something that exists, but does not really, at least that is what the associates at Microsoft would have the public believe. According to a media leak even larger than the one that resulted in forehand knowledge of the spherical Surface Computer, Microsoft has had high level executive meetings to kick start a project that would see Zune cell phones rolling off Microsoft manufacturing plants in the near future.
According to representatives of Microsoft the story is not true, since they are focusing on software development for their hardware partners as opposed to direct hardware development. According to the same leak, an overhaul is planned on the Windows 7 Mobile system and if this is true it would represent the first mobile software overhaul that Microsoft has done in about three years. Windows 7 is already confirmed as being Multitouch compatible and for this reason it perhaps makes some sense that Windows 7 Mobile would bring a Zune cell phone to the market with it.
Ultimately, believing Microsoft’s spiel about not having plans for a Zune phone is somewhat suspect, considering the company’s takeover of Danger. Danger is a company that did produce software for media and messaging, both of which are expected to be big parts of the Windows 7 Mobile operating system when it is released. On the other hand, Danger is also a company that was responsible for creating hardware to go along with their software and for that reason many are sceptical of Microsoft when they say they have no plans for Zune cell phone development.
Spherical Multitouch Technology is Here
Microsoft appears to be continuing its bumbling nature, although now it has stumbled onto something that could be good for the company’s stock price.
A close examination of the floor plan at a demo event occurring in the near future has revealed that Microsoft will be showing off a spherical version of the Surface Computer, a device that had only existed in legend and rumour up until the present. Such an unwitting screw up is not out of Microsoft’s league as far as blunders go, although this would seem to be far more of a leak than anything else.
The spherical Surface will show that Microsoft is light years ahead of the competition when it comes to Multitouch technology since it will become the first company to showcase Multitouch technology as it applies to a non-flat surface. Flat surfaces were the only ones thought to be Multitouch capable until Microsoft’s unwitting announcement and for that reason many eyes will turn towards the demo event to see exactly what it is this curved surface Multitouch technology can do.
One reason for interest in the spherical Surface is that many home users of electronic devices are looking forward to being able to use curved Multitouch surfaces for convenience purposes. The $5000 Microsoft Surface Computer is not a device that is intended for the average home user, but a mass produced reduced price version of a spherical Surface might be and that perhaps more than anything else is what is driving the surprisingly large amount of interest in the upcoming demo.
Dell Steps up to bat for Microsoft…Well, Maybe Not
One of the most interesting aspects of the electronics industry is how different companies interact with each other. For example, the interactions between Apple and Microsoft over Multitouch technology have been extremely interesting and drawn millions of words of commentary from all around the globe.
After Apple’s decisive trouncing of Microsoft in the first round of the Multitouch battle, Microsoft went away to lick its wounds for awhile, coming back eventually with the Windows 7 Multitouch introduction. While Windows 7 appears so far that it might be able to pick up some of the massive amounts of slack created by Windows Vista, Microsoft seems to find themselves in competition with another company now.
This time, that company is Dell.
Dell has tablet PCs in their Latitude XT line that are capable of supporting Multitouch technology, something that would be required of hardware that would be able to accommodate the full list of features from Windows 7. However, Dell has recently announced that they are going ahead and releasing a software update that will make Multitouch available on those same tablets now, effectively pre-empting Microsoft’s bid to do the exact same thing in their still years away final release of Windows 7.
With this latest announcement, it appears as though Dell is throwing their hat into the Multitouch ring and announcing that they intend to tangle with anyone else that is putting themselves into Multitouch technology. With developments this interesting, keeping your eyes peeled on the Multitouch industry should bring even more developments in the near future.
Is Multitouch Actually the Future?
Multitouch is undoubtedly a technology that took the computer and technology industries by storm when it was first introduced in the Microsoft Surface Computer and later put into the Apple iPhone, a product that could be sold to massive markets at affordable rates. Lately however, there has been question as to whether the Multitouch technology that everyone seems to be touting is actually the technology of the future.
Consider exhibit A, an interesting little device known as the Samsung Instinct. This is a cell phone attached to Sprint plans and it is also a phone that has little to do with Multitouch. It does have a touch screen interface however, since you can touch buttons and make things happen. It has no Multitouch however, since you can not slide your finger or make other gestures in contact with the screen to have different outcomes.
While the Samsung Instinct is nothing special in terms of technology, it has been doing surprisingly well in the markets. People that have purchased it have reported about the same amount of satisfaction as those that purchased the iPhone and overall the sales of phones like the Instinct have not really suffered that much at the hands of the iPhone and other Multitouch products.
While there are nowhere near enough affordable Multitouch products on the market to facilitate a fair comparison between these two technology types, it appears as though at least for the near future Microsoft and Apple will be the two main pushers of Multitouch technology until they can get it down to a level of affordability that rivals other similar technological products.
