E-Table: Part Of Furniture
WHILE it’s fair to say that computers have become part of the furniture in many households, Microsoft has gone a step further, making computers into the actual furniture.
In its latest foray outside its traditional software fold into the hardware arena, the company last week announced a new computing platform more akin to something out of an IKEA showroom than a traditional electronics store.
The company’s Surface computing platform looks more like a coffee table than what we think of as a traditional computer.
The unorthodox coffee-table computer design is expected to become a multibillion-dollar part of the company’s share of the hardware market, which until now has been limited to peripherals such as computer mice and keyboards and games consoles such as the Xbox and Xbox 360 machines. Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer unveiled the innovative table unit as the “the first in a new category of surface computing products”, at an industry conference in southern California.
Microsoft Surface machines are built into tabletops featuring 76cm screens that recognise objects placed on them.
Interaction is controlled by way of a touch of the hand instead of more conventional keyboard strokes or mouse movements, and more than one person at a time can drag icons across the “screen” or give commands, allowing greater collaboration than standard touchscreen computers.
“With Surface, we’re creating more intuitive ways for people to interact with technology,” Ballmer says.
“We see this as a multibillion-dollar category, and we foresee a time when surface computing technologies will be pervasive, from tabletops and counters to the hallway mirror. Surface is the first step in realising that vision.” It runs the company’s Windows Vista operating system and the initial units will have wired ethernet 10/100 and wireless 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity.
The surface computer is the result of a collaborative effort since 2001 between the company’s hardware and research teams.
A prototype was produced in 2003, based on an Ikea coffee table with the top cut out.
Microsoft usually licences its technology to partners, but the company is contracting out the manufacture of the computers.
Don’t expect to see one in your local electronics store or friend’s living rooms anytime soon.
The company will initially target it at retail and leisure markets, such as shops, hotels and casinos.
Initial units will sell for between $US5000 and $US10,000 ($6065 and $12,131), and the company doesn’t expect prices to come down towards the consumer level for at least three to five years.
For example, Ballmer says, the Surface computers will be available in some Las Vegas casinos, Starwood hotels and T Mobile stores by the end of the year.
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