From: mike 


Just what I need, furniture with an Product Deactivation switch controlled
by Microsoft.

 /m


On Wed, 30 May 2007 10:18:26 -0400, "Rich Gauszka"
 wrote:

>But will it phone home and refuse to be touched if it can't?
>
>http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN2819912120070530
>SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research will
>unveil a coffee-table-shaped "surface computer" on Wednesday
in a major step
>towards co-founder Bill Gates's view of a future where the mouse and
>keyboard are replaced by more natural interaction using voice, pen and
>touch.
>
>Microsoft Surface, which has a 30-inch display under a hard-plastic
>tabletop, allows people to touch and move objects on screen for everything
>from digital finger painting and jigsaw puzzles to ordering off a virtual
>menu in a restaurant.
>
>It also recognizes and interacts with devices placed on its surface, so cell
>phone users can easily buy ringtones or change payment plans by placing
>their handsets on in-store displays, or a group of people gathered round the
>table can check out the photos on a digital camera placed on top.
>
>The world's largest software maker said it will manufacture the machine
>itself and sell it initially to corporate customers, deploying the first
>units in November in Sheraton hotels, Harrah's casinos, T-Mobile stores, and
>restaurants.
>The company is selling the Surface for between $5,000 and $10,000 each, but
>aims to bring prices down to consumer levels in three to five years and
>introduce various shapes and forms.
>
>"We see this as a multibillion dollar category, and we envision a time when
>surface computing technologies will be pervasive, from tabletops and
>counters to the hallway mirror," Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said in a
>statement.
>
>Analysts say the first few applications only hint at what is possible.
>

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5