reactable: basic demo #1
Multi-Input Touch Screen
iBar Multi-Touch
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Popular Mechanics Surface Video
18 Minute Microsoft Surface Interview
I like the last link best cuz it has less hype. The UI for the phone stuff (@ 6 minutes) is very nice. Just goes to show that software will be central to the real advances now that we have multi-touch to play with =)
Other than the video puzzle (@ 16 minutes), which looks VERY cool but impractical, there is little that is innovative here. For example, I am not sure why M$ does not have a keyboard. No keyboard would explain why they have no online browsing. What is up with no photo editing? All you can do is resize but you can not color correct or even crop?!?
Yes it is cool that they have a “table” that should be ready soon for shipping, but they have merely executed on previous ideas. Cameras inside instead of Apple’s in-display sensors seems a strange and cumbersome choice. Maybe Apple has those patented…
Personally, I am all for more folks using multi-touch. Information wants to be free and this form of interaction should be available to all. Sure, Apple will grow rich if they can protect their patent, but the world will grow rich if the software is open.