Sony's 35-inch atracTable to be 'industrialized' in June, show Microsoft how it's done (video)
By Vlad Savov 
posted May 3rd 2010 9:07AM
posted May 3rd 2010 9:07AM
posted May 3rd 2010 9:07AM
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Microsoft's Surface is already commercially available..just in case you didn't know Engadget..
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/Pages/HowToBuy/HowToBuy.aspx
@JudgeDredd, yea, not sure why they act like it's mythical it has been out for few years.
@Templarian Yeah! with even SDK already out there, we can only hope this was a mistake, in which, case it will be corrected in an "Update" - we really demand this!
@JudgeDredd
Yeah but it's not really promoted \ marketed and there's like no software at all available for it. I always LOVED the concept \ idea of surface...it's too bad microsoft hasn't allowed it to succeed beyond a very small niche market, if you can even call it that.
@DoctarPeppar If you watch the second video carefully, you will realize that even the Sony version is only meant for a specialized market. This is not iPad touch.
@DoctarPeppar
You've already forgotten the reason for Surface? It was rolled out by Ballmer to prove that people actually worked in those "R&D" buildings at the Redmond campus, and to show that Microsoft had tech just as "cool" as the iPhone which Apple was getting ready to announce. This is a standard Microsoft tactic (Courier? LOL) going back 20 years. They make lots of PR noise to try and deflect attention from a competitor's product announcement, then the thing they hyped is forgotten or canceled.
@Ed T Please head to the link provided above and while there, click on "Experience It" and play with various showcases there to see who is really using and what it is being used for.
Yeah! see knowledge, it helps a lot.
@JudgeDredd
so is the system by multitou.ch. we used their multitouch tables for 2.5 years now for various clients. and they don't have that horrible lag that the sony system has and a much thinner bezel..so you can build multiscreen surfaces.
@Ed T
ive seen the microsoft 'table' on show at gadget show live (im a UKer :D) this thing isnt just one of those things MS makes and forgets about, its a fulyl working thing, its genuinely amazing, i dont know why its not shown off more, genuinely, if i had the money id have brought it without a second thought.
unfortunately, if Apple brought one of these out, theyd market it as new and innovative, the tech world would praise it as life changing (even if it is worse than MS's model) and say MS copied apple
go figure
@HoldenMccrotch
Maybe you should ask yourself why you don't have the money to buy it. Could it be a lack of reasoning skills? Hand in the wrong place at the wrong time? Just wonderin'
If the surface concept was actually a table, the kind people can sit at and do work on, it might make sense for some applications. But Surface isn't a table, it's a frikkin' box, and people have to sit sideways to use it, or stand next to it. It's interesting for five minutes, then it's annoying. Dumb in a huge box, is still dumb.
@JudgeDredd
Surface has been out for a few months, not years. But it's never gone beyond the niche market. It can also only be afforded by fairly rich organizations with some budget to throw.
Unfortunately, Microsoft don't think the average consumer wants the device.
Sony Ericsson, on the other, is just too eager to sell the average consumer something and update its firmware/software later to make up, not knowing that hurts its reputation.
@Ed T It's true - because you can't sit at it so much as crouch over it, you wouldn't use it for any length of time. But then, maybe that fits in with its role, which is currently a showroom attractor. http://fluid.media.mit.edu/projects.php?action=details&id=71 is a more realistic concept of a worktable.
@DoctarPeppar
Awfully hard to market it when the cost is so incredibly high. It isn't remotely close for consumer level distribution.
Until the costs can come down, these concepts won't gain any traction. I think they are super cool and could radically change the way we interact with computers. Unfortunately, other tech is coming that can do the same type of thing for a fraction of the cost and significantly less space.
@JudgeDredd They do this a lot for MS. They also like to pretend MS doesnt have any tablet PCs
@icecreamsocialist Agree to the article, that this one looks like the MS surface debuted earlier just a week after the CES. zOMG, hopefully this won't remain as a unicorn only. http://j.mp/microsurface-viewed
One day I'd like to play Command and Conquer on this. Then I would die happy.
@Ignition1
That would be amazing.
@Ignition1
and starcraft 2. I love both!!
@databass funny, I was thinking along the same lines... something that would really be like a battle center (I'd prefer Starcraft though :D)
@Ignition1 Not C&C 4 though...
Knowing Sony, this will be released in 2015.
@jdmbo1 yup, and with a hefty price tag too..
@jdmbo1 Knowing SONY it'll only play atrac encoded content and nothing else.
@jdmbo1 knowing Sony, this will never get a good OS. You will have to do with 5 beautiful but limited apps.
male probability: 77.6
Microsoft already owns table-sized touch interface.
so the word "ATRAC" being in there just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth....
@Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi
the joystiq user names seem so out of place here on engadget, lol
@skyblaze yea they do....but since I can't have a different name for each site...meh..
When this whole virtual table thing takes off, i can only imagine what Apple is going to do.
@Stevenk: They will just call it a hobby because no one will buy this crap.
And its kind of useless to buy commercially if it only works in Apple Stores.
Useful for commercial, where tables are often used to present info, like your contract or product info. Useless at home, where you usually interact with wall mounted elements, like a television. Thats why Natal makes more sense in terms of body based interaction. Capture your movements while you sit on the sofa.
@Stevenk They'll release the iTable which is only half as useful as it's competition, be perfected by the 4th generation, and be called "magical". The patent gestapo will then be on the move claiming that every other company that made a similar product years before them is actually encroaching on their idea.
Did I get it?
@Stevenk
Apple is pretty good at ignoring niche markets for useless devices. I hear that Sony is going to line these ATRAC projector boxes with floppy discs and memory sticks for added weight. Every audiophile knows that weight=quality.
@hxczuner
EPIC!
@Ruben "Thats why Natal makes more sense in terms of body based interaction. Capture your movements while you sit on the sofa."
While you sit on the sofa? Your statement pretty much sums up what is wrong with the an entire generation. Thanks, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.
@Stevenk
Uh.. by then the iPad will weigh about 3 grams and come in a 45 inch model for a really huge game of Fieldrunners on your lap. And Microsoft will have their table.
Your point?
@Stevenk
Cut an iPad sized hole in a table and stick a proprietary apple dock in it.
@Stevenk
Here is your [unofficial] Apple version. It is currently available for around $25k.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/03/aigos-surprisingly-sexy-7-inch-n700-tablet-packs-android-2-1-an/
I prefer the one on CSI: Miami.
[/s]
Erm..These guys really know how to suck the fun and excitment out of a potentially good commerical product that could compete against surface and others.
Does it come with a wall mounting?
/s (if needed)
@d0mth0ma5 If you want to punch a 4-foot deep hole in your wall to fit the projector, sure, it's wall mountable.
I'm sorry, but this is NOT like minority report. They need to stop saying that. For starters, In the movie, there are no touch screen interfaces.
@tylersmyler
It is like the one in The Island though. But if I recall correctly, they actually used a Microsoft Surface for that.
FAIL! look at that elastic band effect!!!!
@dagetz that's what we call lag dude.
I was excited until i saw the projector under the table. It's not even a display
@hxczuner Not display, poor word choice. Monitor
Yeah, the projector just makes me feel "meh" about this particular device.
Until they can make a nice, expansive 42" lcd multitouch display table with a solid glass surface so that you can put stuff on it, spill drinks on it, etc then it just isn't going to be good enough.
I'm actually kind of confused why we don't have this stuff now? Just make a big capacitive touch screen, make sure it is durable so it can function as a table, and have it use a touch based OS.
I've been waiting for ages for something like this for boardgames. Just load up VASSAL or Cyberboard to start to play a lot of classic wargames digitally at full scale, and then let game companies port their games over to a touch interface.
The real strength of one of these devices as a gaming platform is that rather than having everyone staring at a TV screen, instead you all get to sit around a table and be able to interact with each other face to face, with the digital medium just enhancing that gaming experience, rather than dominating it.
I'd hope that someday I'd be able to have just a digital table loaded with thousands of games that can be found at www.boardgamegeek.com that I can summon up instantly and let the computer do all of the fiddily management of of the game components and score tracking.
Sony, awesome.