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.
The Digital Home of 2013: Reach out and touch something
How to do you perceive your home in 2013? Do you want all the devices in your home to run with your voice common and simply want to navigate through using your hands? Then you can surely dream about it because human touch and natural user interface is something that companies are seeing their future in. Some laptops and handheld devices already use biometric finger scans to access stored data and can easily recognize the human touch as input device. Well, these things might come into other device within your home too making your life much easier than ever before.
The real growth of these touchscreens will come when companies adapt it into home use devices where the touch screen technology can be used to navigate data, applications and functions. Touch screen is rapidly being developed by various companies and it won’t be much when you can find almost any devices coming with a built in touch screen facilities and input devices like keyboard and mouse might take a back seat.
Even today Apple’s iphone and Microsoft’s’ Surface technology have gained enough of credibility among the users because of their innovative touch screen functions and seamless integration with older version of devices. With more and more competition for these products in market one can be sure that many more companies will join the foray to create more amazing products with built in touch screen facilities to stay ahead in consumers demand and satisfaction.
Touch screen technology is divided into two distinct features; single touch and multi touch. In a single touch system users can only interact with one single area of the screen at one time which is found in smart phone like Palm Treo. Single touch technology is not expected to be around in the digital home in 2013 and the other version of touch screen, multi touch can enable you to handle different parts of the screen simultaneously with your own finger.
The multi touch gives much more flexibility in development and helps users interact with multiple point of the device at same time. Multi touch is expected to break into digital homes by 2013.
Microsoft’s surface products are expected to come into market by 2010 which will not only bring in huge demands for their products but will also motivate many more companies to pitch in their devices lapsed with touch screen and interactive handling features capable to recognize human touch and primary input device. Though Microsoft speculates its commercial viability but Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates have speculated to roll it out with their next version of operating system called Widows 7.
consumers demand handheld devices input device input devices iphone palm treo screen functions surface technology touch screen technology touch technology user interfaceWindows 7 Continues to Gain Momentum
Is it too early to say that Windows 7 might be Microsoft’s last best hope to stem the tide against them? It probably is, but the way the corporate giant is acting one would think that is the primary thought running through their mind at the present moment.
Microsoft has posted a job opportunity on their website looking for a PR manager for their new Windows operating system, set to be released sometime in 2010. With the departure of Nick White (the man that did the same job for Windows Vista) and the absolute disaster to public relations that the operating system ended up being, this particular posting takes on a more interesting presence and one that has not been lost on many of the online technology bloggers.
Microsoft’s Windows 7 product really is where Microsoft appears to be making their stand as they attempt to gain back the market share they have lost to Apple in the wake of the Windows Vista fiasco. With Multitouch functionality and a number of changes to the code that are expected to tone down the resource intensive nature of the operating system greatly, Windows 7 appears to be a product that can get the job done if it has the proper marketing behind it.
Apparently Microsoft understands this and will be pulling out all the stops to ensure that Windows 7 hits the market with a lot of momentum behind it.
