|
|
To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu
-------------------------------------------------------------- This story was printed from ZDNet Australia. --------------------------------------------------------------
|
Photos: Reaching out and touching 'Milan' By Staff writers, CNET News.com May 30, 2007 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/insight/hardware/soa/Photos-Reaching-out-and-touching-Milan-/0,139023759,339277976,00.htm
There's no mouse or keyboard needed for Microsoft's new tabletop computer, which is entirely controlled through touch. 
Mark Bolger, director of marketing for Microsoft's surface-computing effort, shows off the company's new "Milan" at a briefing in San Francisco. The tabletop computer, for which Microsoft has created both the hardware and the software, is entirely driven by touch -- there is no mouse or keyboard. Related: Microsoft hopes 'Milan' table PC has magic touch. Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News.com 
To paint, people can pick up a brush or just dip their fingers in virtual paint cups, as Bolger is doing here. Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News.com 
For now, Microsoft is focusing on getting the products into public spaces in the hospitality arena -- hotel lobbies, restaurants and casinos, to name a few. Customers will be able to touch the computer's surface to order food and drinks. Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News.com 
Milan can function as a public jukebox, as well. Consumers can add their own music selections to the public playlist with the touch of a finger. Five infra-red cameras sense fingers or other objects that touch the surface, while a DLP projector turned on its side generates the screen image people see. Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News.com 
Photos can be easily sorted and shared on the tabletop computer. To resize a photo, users stretch two fingers apart. Pivot the fingers and the photo rotates. More than one person can interact with the computer at a time. Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News.com 
Milan, five years in the making, is the first of what Microsoft hopes will be a long line of "surface computers." It has a price tag approaching US$10,000 -- not exactly consumer-friendly just yet. Credit: Microsoft 
A sample application on Milan lets users get directions or find destinations of interest. Credit: Microsoft
Copyright © 2009 CBS Interactive, a CBS Company. All Rights Reserved. |
