Microsoft Reveals What's Under the Surface

Here's something you don't hear very often, at least in recent times: Microsoft is being innovative.

Later today, the Seattle-area software giant will introduce a new product for what it's calling a brand new, "multi-billion dollar" computing category. In what we're sure will be his famously excitable manner, C.E.O. Steve Ballmer is set to unveil the Microsoft Surface, a tabletop interactive device, at the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital conference at the Four Seasons Resort in Carlsbad, California.

Try to refrain from letting your eyes glaze over with ennui at the less-than-catchy name "Microsoft Surface." We got a peek at the Surface a couple of weeks ago (while it was still being called its more exotic code name "Milan"), and trust us when we say it's the closest we've ever gotten to being inside an episode of the Jetsons.

Surface computing, at least as Microsoft defines it, is much like it sounds. Imagine a sleek, black coffee table with a glass top. There's your device. It's not a P.C., and it's not a kiosk. It's basically a table.

There are no buttons, handles, knobs, levers, or joysticks. You can put your sweaty glass of ice water down on top of it without a worry. As many people as can fit around the table can use their hands to interact with whatever's being projected on the Surface's 30-inch display.

And just what is being projected? That depends on where the table is, and who is using it. It's probably safe to say that its most promising applications have yet to be dreamt up.

Its product managers demonstrated using it as a new-age Etch-a-Sketch--its interior cameras read infrared technology to let you create a colorful work of digital art using your fingers or other devices.

The Surface can recognize objects and communicate with certain wireless devices--so by placing your wireless camera on top of the table, you can instantly open your photo album to the screen or snap a picture for instant development.

You can also edit and share photos--just toss a digital 4x6 across the table and let your friend blow it up to an 8x10.

Or, by placing your wireless email device on the Surface, you can email those photos to others. You can play games or, with wireless music players, you can play and share music.

Microsoft hopes that the devices will eventually be in our homes and our schools. But just as how the flat-screen television was introduced via sports bars, the Surface will ease its way into our lives by way of restaurants, hotels, or retail outlets. And it's here that the promise of the Surface comes to life.

T-Mobile stores will let customers shop on the device. Got questions about a certain phone, and how it compares to another? Just place the two phones side-by-side on the Surface and it will show you the differences. Then you can weigh the various calling plans, pick one, and proceed to checkout online.

At Starwood Hotels and Resorts, you might use it as a concierge, getting details and maps about places to go. As a member of Starwood's rewards program, you can place your loyalty card (tagged with a device) on the Surface and use your loyalty points to buy music, download books, or order a drink at the bar.

Harrah's Entertainment similarly might let you make reservations at a nightclub near one of its hotel-casinos while you listen to music and order a mound of nachos (a real person will still be required to actually deliver them, however).

Microsoft's fourth partner, International Gaming Technology, remains mum on its plans for the Surface. But since I.G.T. is the leading maker of slot machines, one can only imagine the damage you and your buddies could do during the wee hours of the morning on one of the company's Surface-equipped devices in, say, Las Vegas.

The Microsoft Surface was five years in the making, and its software and hardware has been entirely developed by Microsoft. The company's other hardware developments, like the X-Box and Zune, have met limited success.

The device starts at a list price of $5,000 but can quickly climb to $10,000 or more. It's not hard to imagine the price coming down as the Surface enters the retail market and, like most innovations, it will become physically smaller as it evolves.

When asked what other product in Microsoft history compares with the Surface in terms of innovation, Jeffrey Gattis, its director of product management, thought for a minute. "Windows," he replied. "There hasn't been a lot of brand new category development at Microsoft."

We have to agree. But is the world ready for the Jetsons' lifestyle? Some will call it a roll of the dice. Microsoft, on the other hand, is doubling down.

by Megan Barnett

Photograph of the Surface by Microsoft