Crave

With the hype around Apple's near-certain upcoming tablet PC seemingly cooling off, our attention now turns to Microsoft--as the company is rumored to be preemptively working on its own Apple-tablet killer.

ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley reports that Microsoft plans to create a tablet, which is based in part on the technology behind the company's Surface project and has been developed under code names including "Oahu" and "Alchemy Ventures." In charge of the project--Chief Experience Officer J Allard, who was the main guy behind the Xbox brand for several years.

But don't look for it any time soon. Mary-Jo says she "wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft is waiting for Apple to show its Tablet hand before trotting out its revamped Tablet."

A key difference between a Microsoft tablet and an Apple one would be that Microsoft would design the basic spec, and let hardware partners build the actual devices--allowing MS to sit back and enjoy revenue from Zune-like subscription services, rather than be in the hardware-manufacturing business (and judging from the Xbox 360's high failure rate, that might not be the worst idea).

(Credit: Moto Labs)

A new touch-screen tabletop computer display brings together the unlikely combination of technologies popularized by Apple and Microsoft.

It's called the Scalable Multitouch display, and its touch technology is similar to the iPhone, but it would scale up from handheld device size to dimensions more like those of Microsoft's Surface. The prototype measures just 19 inches right now, but it aspires to cover an entire 50-inch tabletop one day.

The Scalable Multitouch has been in development at Moto Labs in San Francisco for the past two years, and on Tuesday the company released an updated video (below) as a peek of what it's working on.

Moto Labs' multitouch display

Like Microsoft's Surface, the Scalable Multitouch display is intended to be used as a group workspace where information on the screen can be manipulated by hand. But Moto Labs CEO Daniell Hebert says what his company is doing is different than Microsoft and others because it does not use cameras or projectors underneath the surface of the display to project images. And by nixing the inner camera/projector, it allows the display to be thin--perhaps some day as thin as the LCD screen you're likely reading this on.

The display instead uses multitouch technology--which means you can use more than one finger as an input device. Moto Labs likes to say that you can use as many fingers to control the device as you want, and that you're only limited by the number of fingers you have on each hand.

The device also employs capacitive touch--same as the iPhone--in which a finger touching a sensor grid (just below the screen) causes a change in signal. That relays exactly where on the screen the finger is. But while the iPhone uses a solid solution known as ITO (indium tin oxide), Moto Labs employs a grid of super-thin wires that pick up on the signals from each finger.

The thin-wire grid is used right now in single-touch displays, but has yet to be used on multitouch, and that's where Moto Labs' work on the inner electronics and the software to take advantage of multitouch comes in.

One day, your computer will be a big-ass table with pictures of other people's kids all over it. We know it, Microsoft knows it and--judging by its fancy X-Desk surface computer--Epson knows it too.

The X-Desk works in much the same way as Microsoft's alternative, the Surface. An Epson projector positioned in the base of the table projects an image up toward a diffuser on the surface, while infrared Epson cameras beneath recognize objects and gestures.

Epson reckons it'll be used in retail outlets for interactive gadget comparisons; in bars and clubs for interactive cocktail menus; in hotels for checking into rooms; and in houses of the future for looking at pictures of other people's kids. You know the sort of thing.

Watch the video, learn more, and let us know what you think below.

(Via Crave UK)

This episode is all about your hands. So, put your clammy, pudgy, baby-like ham hands together for these handy gadgets.

EPISODE 132

Sweat is killing iPhones

Mouse doubles as hand dryer, triples as seizure inducer

The new TV remote: Your bare hand?

DIY Microsoft Surface clone you can make on the cheap

Vibrating touch screen enables Braille reading

Keybag by Joao Sabino Studio

Apropos (of) nothing
Toto Neorest toilets, now even more high-tech, self-cleaning

Bling RX (thanks, Fernando!)
Chevrolet’s Captiva gets the Swarovski treatment. For some reason.

What the hell? (Gender gap edition)
CJ7: The ever-so randomly shaped MP3 player

Kill Me
Le Whif: Don’t eat your chocolate, inhale it

Fug!
Sony’s crocodile skin Vaio has teeth

You could wait for Microsoft's Surface computing device to drop in price so you can put one in your living room. Or you could build your own, like the guys at Maximum PC did. Even more, they documented the whole process step by step so you can build your own.

They used off-the-shelf parts, a PS3 Eye camera, a small form factor desktop PC, and a mix of open-source software and other readily available apps to run the whole thing. The video is pretty impressive. With this data, someone could possibly beat Microsoft to the tabletop multitouch punch.

I've had a lot of experience with the Surface and I have to say it's one of the most innovative products Microsoft has come up with in years. It won't be long till the Surface--or devices like it--are everywhere. Portable multitouch devices should be arriving soon, with Apple rumored to have a 10-inch or so version readying for launch among others. Its' going to be a fun market when it blows up, that's for sure.

REDMOND. Wash.--First, Microsoft showed off its tabletop Surface computer. Then it showed what that might be like as a sphere. At TechFest on Tuesday, Microsoft actually let the user get inside the sphere.

Microsoft's latest surface computing prototype uses a dome constructed from cardboard that serves as a giant display for all kinds of three-dimensional data. The main demo at TechFest featured the dome acting as a planetarium using data from Microsoft's Worldwide Telescope project. But, researcher Andy Wilson also showed the dome as a good backdrop for other things, such as video conferencing or mapping.

Microsoft's Andy Wilson inside a dome-shaped surface computer shown Tuesday at Microsoft's TechFest. In the background is an image from Building 99 on Microsoft's campus.

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET Networks)

Since it operates in the dark, the new surface computer relies largely on speech commands and hand gestures for navigation. Although it is probably a good choice in general, it made for some laughs when the speech recognition proved less than perfect.

"Earth," Wilson said, prompting the computer to bring up a perfectly stunning image--of Mars.

Overall, though, the experience was quite impressive, with Wilson taking me through a rapid fire tour from Venus to the Crab Nebula before showing a 360-degree video image of the TechFest show floor. (I shot a couple of videos that I am working to upload now and will embed in the story once I have done so).

Beyond researchers, though, there is the question of who is going to have the space for their own dome. Although the cardboard dome wasn't that expensive to build, not everyone is going to want to carve out a separate dome room in their house. With a somewhat brighter projector, the same effect could be done in a fairly dark room, Wilson said.

Tampa authorities will utilize Microsoft's Surface touch-screen device, along with other technologies, as part of Super Bowl Sunday security, according to Ars Technica.

For well over a year now, more than 60 federal, state, regional, local, and municipal authorities have been working with the E-Sponder technology partnership to plan security details for Super Bowl XLIII, one of the only major sporting events that receives national security status.

Beginning this week and continuing past the final game whistle, E-Sponder will connect on-site and remote authorities, allowing them to remotely track all activities in real time with mapping, as well as 3D displays, two-way radio integration, and immediate communication.

Together with Infusion Development's Falcon Eye technology, the Tampa Incident Command staff will use the E-Sponder portal to visualize all aspects of Super Bowl goings-on.

The Microsoft Surface device will display a Microsoft Virtual Earth map of the entire region, tracking events and incidents in real time using its large display and multi-user, multitouch, and interactive capabilities, and also allowing it to communicate with remote devices and PCs.

With a quick hand gesture, the map can zoom in and display a 3D image of the city, including detailed views of buildings and streets and real-time resource tracking.

At CES last year I was lucky enough to get a chance to spend a good half hour with a prototype of the Microsoft Surface device. Since then, I've been to the campus in Redmond a few times and have seen a few more things it can do. It's promising technology, but Microsoft's going to have to hustle to get it to market if it wants to stay impressive, as other groups, like Sony, look to be rushing their own versions into the world.

Take this patent Sony recently filed for a digital printer. Using a touchscreen UI, the printer wirelessly downloads photos from your (Sony-only, probably) digital camera. Then you can preview them on the screen and decide which ones to print.

It's likely you'll have options like red-eye fixes, cropping, and other basic image adjustments built in. The thing is, the camera download thing is one of the many things the Surface can do. If Sony can beat Microsoft in bringing that technology home, then it's one less exciting thing about the Surface.

That being said, this is still in the patent stage and nobody (that we know of) has seen a prototype yet. Maybe CES next year?

BMW has been among the leaders in high-tech car innovation, occasionally even jumping too far ahead of what its older customers preferred to use.

So it should be no surprise that the German carmaker wants to lure in potential customers with another cool high-tech tool.

The BMW Product Navigator, which employs Microsoft's Surface computer, lets potential customers hand-pick options, then see a computer-generated video of their future car in action.

By placing mini discs on the computer table, customers at dealerships can add features like wheels in designing their customized BMW. Users can also use Microsoft's multitouch Surface gestures to rotate, move, and enlarge on-screen images.

Instead of showing the usual computer-generated image of a customized car, the program produces a video. The video, which is shown to users on a separate computer screen hung on a wall, shows the customer how their car will look from the inside and outside while being driven.

The results of each configuration a customer comes up with can then be printed, e-mailed, or saved to a USB drive to take home.

BMW has posted a video (above) on BMW-web.tv Web site and YouTube of Franz Wimmer, innovation manager at BMW Group, demonstrating how the Surface device works.

Don't go running out to your nearest BMW dealership just yet to check the technology out. The company has not yet specified when the BMW Product Navigator kiosks will be widely available.