They look good in movies and now they’re starting to creep on to the market. Yes, computer surfaces could be coming to a shop near you.
Samsung have teamed up with Microsoft to release the Samsung SUR40, and although the name may not impress, the surface itself certainly does.
Using the Microsoft platform, the release marks the first time the company have allowed for the sale of the technology, and why wouldn’t they test the waters? The surface is very impressive with a 40-inch LCD display allowing a staggering 50 simultaneous touch points at one time, recognising fingers, hands and objects placed on the screen.
I’ll let Microsoft explain why forking out a cool $8000 could be money well spent for your business…
Make content more engaging. Give your customers immersive and collaborative ways to engage with photos, videos, documents, maps, custom applications, and more.
Plan and simulate. Bring to life real-time “if/then” modeling and visualization, simulations and calculations—perfect for financial services, healthcare, and other consultative environments.
Make learning more fun. Breathe new life into the education process with rich visualizations that encourage teamwork and enhance learning.
Transform the shopping experience. Make shopping more immersive by connecting customers with more options, recommendations, product and service comparisons, and personalized service.
Connect with customers through games and pastimes. Have some fun by putting Surface in restaurants, bars, hotel lobbies, and other venues, associating memorable experiences with your brand.
Communicate and connect. Give people an efficient and intriguing new way to get the information they’re looking for—like maps and tourist destinations in a hotel lobby. Or use it to help them exchange personal information so they can connect with each other and to your business.
Ever fancied receiving calls or even emails to your watch? Well now you can. i’m watch takes everything from your Android phone and puts it’s straight on your wrist.
Users will be able to make and receive calls, text messages and emails on the device while also keeping up with notifications from the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.
Music can also be played from the watch and purchased from the i’music store, and like all Android handsets, the device can handle various apps which can be purchased through the i’market.
Many of the options on the watch require internet connection, and handsets that work with the device include: Android, RIM, iOS, Bada, Symbian and the Windows Phone 7. The watch itself is connected entirely through Bluetooth but disappointingly runs Android 1.6.
i.MX233 processor
64 MB RAM
4 GB Flash Drive
1.54-inch colour TFT display
240×240 pixels
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Standby 48 hours w/o Bluetooth
Standby up to 24 hours w/ Bluetooth
Talk time with speakerphone up to 3 hours
70 gr weight (Colour version)
Charging via USB to computer or via power adapter
At such an expensive price it will be hard for this product to become little more than a novelty, with people able to purchase handheld devices for a lower cost.
Would I buy it? No. As much as I love Android I’m not sure how much use I would get from the watch and would much rather use a handset. It’s obvious the technology is still quite away from being perfected so maybe waiting another year or two before buying such technology would be your best bet.
One question…What were they thinking with the name?!
