An ultimate technology :-)
Source: Microsoft.
History :
The technology behind Surface is called multi-touch and has at least a 25-year history, in 1982, with pioneering work being done at the University of Toronto (multi-touch tablets) and Bell Labs (multi-touch screens). The product idea for Surface was initially conceptualized in 2001 by Steven Bathiche of Microsoft Hardware and Andy Wilson of Microsoft Research
In October 2001, a virtual team was formed with Bathiche and Wilson as key members, to bring the idea to the next stage of development.
In 2003, the team presented the idea to the Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, in a group review. Later, the virtual team was expanded and a prototype nicknamed T1 was produced within a month. The prototype was based on an IKEA table with a hole cut in the top and a sheet of architect vellum used as a diffuser. The team also developed some applications, including pinball, a photo browser and a video puzzle. Over the next year, Microsoft built more than 85 early prototypes for Surface. The final hardware design was completed in 2005.
A similar concept was used in the 2002 science fiction movie Minority Report . As noted in the DVD commentary, the director Steven Spielberg stated the concept of the device came from consultation with Microsoft during the making of the movie. One of the film's technology consultant's associates from MIT later joined Microsoft to work on the Surface project.
Surface was unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on May 30, 2007 at The Wall Street Journal's 'D: All Things Digital' conference in Carlsbad, California. Surface Computing is part of Microsoft's Productivity and Extended Consumer Experiences Group, which is within the Entertainment & Devices division. The first few companies to deploy Surface will include Harrah's Entertainment, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, T-Mobile and a distributor, International Game Technology
On April 17, 2008 AT&T became the first retail location to launch Surface. In June 2008 Harrah’s Entertainment launched Microsoft Surface at Rio iBar and Disneyland launched it in Tomorrowland, Innoventions Dream Home. On August 13, 2008 Sheraton Hotels introduced Surface in their hotel lobbies at 5 locations. On September 8, 2008 MSNBC began using the Surface to work with election maps for the 2008 US Presidential Election on air. MSNBC's political director, Chuck Todd, was placed at the helm.
Specifications :
Four main components being important in Surface's interface: direct interaction, multi-touch contact, a multi-user experience, and object recognition.
Surface is a 30-inch (76 cm) display in a table-like form factor, 22 inches (56 cm) high, 21 inches (53 cm) deep, and 42 inches (107 cm) wide.[17]. The Surface tabletop is acrylic, and its interior frame is powder-coated steel. The software platform runs on a custom version of Windows Vista and has wired Ethernet 10/100, wireless 802.11 b/g, and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity.[17] Surface applications are written using either Windows Presentation Foundation or Microsoft XNA technology.[18]
At Microsoft's MSDN Conference, Bill Gates told developers of "Maximum" setup the Microsoft Surface was going to have:
- Intel Core Quad Xeon "WoodCrest" @ 2.66GHz with a custom motherboard form factor about the size of two ATX motherboards.
- 4GB DDR2-1066 RAM
- 1TB 7200RPM Hard Drive
However, the current commercialy available version has the following specifications[19]:
- Intel Core 2Duo @ 2.13GHz (normal motherboard)
- 2GB DDR2 RAM
- 250GB Sata Hard Drive
Source : Wikipedia
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