Microsoft's "Pseudo-Transparent" and Fold-Up PCs 94
waderoush writes "At the CHI 2009 conference, which wrapped up yesterday in Boston, Microsoft researchers showed off two radical prototypes that push the boundaries of user interfaces. One was a 'pseudo-transparent' iPhone-like device called nanoTouch, which has a trackpad on the back rather than a traditional touch screen and gives visual feedback in the form of a simulated image of the user's finger (the effect is like looking straight through the device). The other was a folding dual-screen device called Codex that can switch automatically between landscape, portrait, collaborative, or competitive modes depending on its 'posture' or orientation. If Microsoft doesn't build such devices itself, 'somebody else will, so it's really important to understand what the issues are,' said researcher Ken Hinckley."
Slight Error In Summary (Score:5, Funny)
The other was not called 'Codex,' but rather 'shuffleClassic.'
nanoTouch! (Score:3, Funny)
Sounds like an improvement over last years' disaster, the Microsoft PowerbookNewton.
(Actually looks pretty damn cool.)
noitavonnI (Score:4, Funny)
!tfosorciM ,sknahT !evitiutni yletelpmoc eb ot gniog si ecived eht fo edisrednu eht gnihcuoT
Hmmmmmm (Score:5, Funny)
Coming soon... (Score:1, Funny)
The clear screen of death.
Re:Hmmmmmm (Score:3, Funny)
This is Microsoft's version of a 'Reach around'
While doing what they so often do to their customers, that's the least they can do!
Re:Gorilla Arm for the 21st Century (Score:5, Funny)
Allow me to pose a question to you: If Apple is built entirely on hype rather than substance, then how did they manage to convert so many former Apple haters to their cause? Maybe, just maybe Apple has earned support from the market by making superior products.
I don't know. I was watching a TV ad this week, and a pretty technically savvy guy named Giampaolo [youtube.com] said Macs are just about aesthetics, not computing power.
Re:Gorilla Arm for the 21st Century (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Gorilla Arm for the 21st Century (Score:3, Funny)
Microsoft launched Surface, its tabletop computer system, in the UK yesterday [today.com].
People will use the touchscreen computer "the same way they have interacted with everyday items their entire lives," said Philippa Snare of Microsoft UK, "with hands and with gestures." Instead of a keyboard or mouse, the techno-table uses a 30-inch touch-sensitive screen that also reacts to objects placed on it. Photos are automatically downloaded from cameras or phones. A spilt cup of coffee causes the "I'm a PC" guy to appear on the screen and start shouting at you for ruining his shirt, and your fourth Big Mac of the day causes him to keel over with a heart attack and the system to blue-screen. Users then make an appropriate gesture.
Unlike conventional computers which only one person can use at a time, Surface is a "multi-touch" system allowing several people can use the screen at the same time. Stealing someone's data is as simple as sliding your phone onto the screen. "We've made it completely compatible with popular gadgets such as Windows Mobile and Zune."
Surface will appear in communal areas such as shops, hotels and pubs first, allowing the public to get used to the new technology and see how it responds to pints being poured over it and kebabs in the coin slot.
Surface is part of Microsoft"s vision of the Digital Home. "Imagine your television, your refrigerator, your gas boiler running Windows Vista - I mean, Windows 7. What could possibly go wrong?"