First Microsoft Surface shipped international, brute-force unboxed

Most unboxings don't require a forklift and crowbar. Then again, most of us aren't unboxing Microsoft's 125-kg (275-pound) Surface computer -- so big that one recipient quipped, "That's a big-ass box." How apropos. The recipient is Australian marketing agency Amnesia, making this the first international shipment of Surface we've heard about. That's good news as the platform seems to finally be taking off.

[Quik @ Aug 20th 2008 4:42AM]

But will it blend?

[j_g_puff @ Aug 20th 2008 4:47AM]

My ancestors sacrificed their lives so that you could freely post on gadget-news blogs. Don't be so ungrateful.

[Rishone @ Aug 20th 2008 4:58AM]

AFAIK Blendtech doesn't have a blender capable blending this thing, So you may consider another brand.
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Yes it will play Crysis/doom (in high resolution).

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Aug 20th 2008 5:15AM]

It blends only when run through a 1,000 horsepower diesel powered Morbark shredder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH3QNmXJpwY

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Aug 20th 2008 5:16AM]

Dude you should know by now, that anything can blend. So stop asking the question.

[mexicracker @ Aug 20th 2008 1:52PM]

ha....i can just see Tom trying to force it in and just smiling in the backround

[j_g_puff @ Aug 20th 2008 4:44AM]

Surface is an actual product? I've never seen it do anything other than display a few photos for people to prod.

[frank @ Aug 20th 2008 10:21AM]

No, it's real! You can put a phone on it, and it'll tell you about the phone! Thus making those little laminated placards totally obsolete!

[abib @ Aug 20th 2008 4:54AM]

125 kg?? what kind of super processors are they using? more like Midget-Inside ..

[Satan_L5 @ Aug 20th 2008 5:10AM]

我来chuaichuai英文站这边的怎么样.™

[TeddyLikesComputahs! @ Aug 20th 2008 5:14AM]

apropos = apposite, appropriate, relevant, pertinent

[Jay6464 @ Aug 20th 2008 5:21AM]

Yes but, when can I get one for my living room to replace my coffee table? And will it be able to heat my coffee over bluetooth? (now theres a feature for the masses...)

[Bad Beaver @ Aug 20th 2008 5:21AM]

Sure thing, a big-ass table will come in a big-ass box. Yet by the size and absence of holes in the box I read that the happy attractive horde of ethnically diverse surface-users comes separately.

[mousekopf @ Aug 20th 2008 5:23AM]

Giant iPhone on the bottom right?

[BobTurbo @ Aug 20th 2008 5:30AM]

I have one of these, but it has joystick and buttons on each side and is much better.

[MatthewJ @ Aug 20th 2008 5:37AM]

Is it just me, or did they actually get TWO of those things??

[Brady @ Aug 20th 2008 7:54AM]

Sure did! :)

[Mark Brown @ Aug 20th 2008 6:15AM]

I can see it now... "the biggest Failures and mistakes of the last 10 years"

No.1 Windows Vista
No.2 Windows Surface

I mean serioulsy after the two month novilty has worn off, for what purpose are people going to be sitting around a table, which WILL NOT contain they're photo's from home. Why use maps on a big table, when you have them on your mobile phone, and why use it as a check in desk when there is someone waiting to greet you and take your bags!

[kccboy2004 @ Aug 20th 2008 8:00AM]

@Mark,

you are joking right ?

this is frickin' amazing.

Tell me: what is your experience of Hotel Internet kiosks ?

Scenario: I am in a hotel in lets say, some far off distant place I have never been before, Toronto. I am with my wife/girlfriend/hooker and we did not plan out every detail of tomorrow...

We sit down at our Surface, we order a drink, charge it to the room, we then look TOGETHER at the shows on in town, check out an Escort service for some added fun (the wife likes that), we then select a resturant having checked out the reviews in my favourite on-line magazines, Wired and FatLippedLicker.

What the frick is wrong with that. Or would you prefer it if Apple had come up with it.

If Apple came up with this the comments would be:

1. "Oh look how innovative Apple is", "so Minority Report", "bringing the Future to Today".
2. See how Apple is progressing from the supplier of expensive phones to commercial equipment with a real practical application.
3. Did you hear that Apple would be designning the console for the Space Shuttle replacement ?
4. I heard that all ATM machines would be Apple soon.
5. "Apple invented touch, look what it is doing with it".

Bottom line...This is an innovative product delivered in a purposeful package where one did not exist before.

As far as I am concerned the Multi-touch application was first invented by the University of Toronto, first portrayed by the Minority Report and first put into a pratical application by Microsoft.

[PynkFloydd @ Aug 21st 2008 5:46AM]

To add onto what kccboy2004 said (which was awesome, by the way)...

The impact of the Surface is actually far greater than you think. The degree of interaction that Microsoft applied to a relatively affordable unit is amazing. Imagine walking into your doctor's office in the future, lying down on a large version of the Surface and it using sensors to do a full body scan. ...or even download info that's stored on your phone (like a constant blood pressure monitor). Imagine walking into your dealership, setting your smartkey down on the Surface and it uploading all advanced engine diagnostics and providing an immediate readout of the problem. Imagine walking into your house setting your laptop, phone and digital camera and all devices automatically interact with your Surface.

To discount this is being really small-minded.

...if Apple did come out with this, what would they have charged? $150,000? This thing is actually cheaper than a full-loaded desktop Mac Pro. Microsoft has also said that they plan to make the consumer version available for something like the price of a laptop. Even if Apple did make this, given Apple's track record, it wouldn't have worked with anything that didn't have an Apple logo on it!

The great thing about this is that it really changes the game if applied correctly. This has the potential to make the current OS experience obsolete.

[w4rh34rt @ Aug 20th 2008 6:16AM]

I'm not a microsoft fan, but I really do think these things look wicked! I know, it's basically like a computer, in a box, with multi-touch, but I think it would be cool for like, whole family to look at holiday photos (or what-ever) and basically, just show-off that your coffee table is actually a computer ^_^

[Syd @ Aug 20th 2008 6:20AM]

Infusion Development (http://www.infusion.com) is the first and only official reseller of Microsoft Surface in the world and has had devices shipped internationally for some time now. Our London, UK office houses the first device shipped to the UK. There are known devices elsewhere in the world -- most of which were/are specifically kept out of the public eye. Look for

Surface is truly a fantastic device that allows for a completely new Natural User Experience that changes the game for collaboration in the physical and digital domain.

More info is available on my post here: http://home.infusionblogs.com/smillett/archive/2008/08/20/infusion-first-international-surface.aspx

[Billy Gun @ Aug 20th 2008 6:31AM]

I love the Idea of having one of these in my living room one day (mabe in 2020).. play music (without a Tv on the room), play some stupid games with friends (stupid games are fun), view/show photos...

But.. I want to know how much this cost today? More than U$ 20k?

[Mark Brown @ Aug 20th 2008 6:38AM]

The thing is imagine how annoying it is to watch a film with your back and neck at 90 Degree angle! Your gonna have one sore body!

I think the way forward would be a more iteligent version of the PS3 Eye thing so you don't have to touch anything but it can still control images etc.

Surely its better looking at images on an iPhone for $199, or on your TV that a table? and also you'd have to have a massive cable to plug it into the wall!!

[Richard @ Aug 20th 2008 10:50AM]

I spoke to Microsoft about these in June, my memory is a little iffy but the price was either $10,500 or $12,500. I'm leaning toward the $12,500 price.

They had a display at the Joint Warfighting Conference in Virginia Beach. The thing was definitely fun to play with!

[MadMike @ Aug 20th 2008 6:35AM]

at 275lbs that's got to have some decent components in that.

[Skyride @ Aug 20th 2008 6:44AM]

Well look at that top glass panel? Also its a well known fact that touch screen panels weigh alot more than standard LCD panels. Plus factor in all the extra stuff in there to make it run properly. Remember a good PC weighs about 35KG (tower only) so i can see that weight being pretty reasonable.

[Brady @ Aug 20th 2008 8:00AM]

The glass around the screen is very thick and the body of the thing is metal.

It's built like a tank.

[Kizorblade @ Aug 20th 2008 6:50AM]

Mmm... multi touch goodnesss...

*Drools*

[Daniel @ Aug 20th 2008 7:11AM]

What are Amnesia gonna do with it? Put em in shopping centres with ads floating around on the screen which people can muck around with? Sounds like a darn good marketing technique to me...first time I'd love advertising.
--
Don't judge a table by its surface.

[Rommel @ Aug 20th 2008 7:48AM]

Seen a photo on Twitter: Rogers (Eatons Centre), Toronto, Canada.

BTW, I'd like to dare somebody hack one and turn into a giant iPhone. ;)

[Gavin Veasey @ Aug 20th 2008 8:41AM]

Looks like a mega iPod touch.

[Greg Mcp @ Aug 20th 2008 9:06AM]

Like opening the Ark of the Covenant.
"It's beautiful!!!"
... and then your face melts.

[avis @ Aug 20th 2008 9:55AM]

can I stretch my legs on it? how it would react..?

[getStringFromObj() @ Aug 20th 2008 9:41AM]

I bet it would hold my girlfriend, we would christen that coffee table the first night!

[Frank Furter @ Aug 20th 2008 1:33PM]

And by 'girlfriend' he means 'Moms pot roast'.

[nick @ Aug 20th 2008 10:11AM]

I think the real race is on to see what company is going to make this into something useful and inexpensive. Honestly, I would like microsoft to continue to turn the heat up on these till they get them down to a manageable sum of money, somewhere around say, $2999? That will likely take time though, and Microsoft sometimes seems to lose focus after awhile. I've noticed that Microsoft has started to make more and more hardware as time goes on, I wonder if we'll ever see MS have retail locations much like Apple, with Xbox, Zunes, and Surface computers. I'm sure R&D at MS is itching to produce something better than many of the Apple/Lenovo/Dell/HP designs they see. I could easily see Surface R&D making its way to tablets, but I have a feeling Apple is on the fast track to beat them there. Vista does have nice features for touchpads though, and if Windows 7 continues this course MS might have little work to do on the operating system side of things since Intel seems hell bent on producing powerful but electrically efficient designs for the foreseeable future.

[Richard @ Aug 20th 2008 10:53AM]

I doubt Surface is aiming for the notebook market. Multi-touch? Yes. But Surface is more than that, and can be more than that.

Think along the lines of Minority Report. That's what they, and other companies, are shooting for.

[ShadowKain @ Aug 20th 2008 10:40AM]

Brute force unboxed ^ ^ cryptography ftw

[Kevdanclay @ Aug 20th 2008 5:39PM]

the 4th pic makes it look like a giant ipod touch or iphone with no home button

[gad get @ Aug 20th 2008 10:15PM]

A marketing agency called "Amnesia"? Not a great name when you're all about getting people to remember products.

[Hguh @ Aug 20th 2008 10:24PM]

An Aussie would never say "big-ass". We'd say "big-arse"!

Actually, "farkin massive" would be more common, I think.

[Mark1881 @ Aug 20th 2008 10:49PM]

Imagine surface in a restaurant as the table your sitting at.

The prospects of entertainment are endless. Sitting sharing your latest photo snaps with family and friends.

More importantly though. Imagine the precision of ordering your meal and paying for your meal. Split cheques would be a breeze with this thing.

Surface has the potential to be very useful. Its just a matter of thinking of places where it can be EFFECTIVELY used.

[Baxter101 @ Aug 21st 2008 12:02PM]

This is very interesting!!! It is great to see this technology reaching the other side of the globe. I can only imagine what will come next. On a side note, I work for a company called Vectorform, and we have actually had a few of the Surfaces since the beginning of April....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs7fDmPpZJQ

This is a very cool application that we have already produced, amongst many others. We have also made our internal blog available for everyones enjoyment. Check it out and let us know what you think!

www.vectorform.com/surface