Remember that rumor of a spherical Microsoft Surface bouncing around the labs of Redmond? At the time, we didn't get it. Now, imagine if you would the combination of a multi-touch sphere with these 360-degree games from SusiGames. Oh sure, the games have been kicking around art shows and design exhibitions for several months now, and rely upon a modified Wiimote and decidedly non-touch-sensitive SusiSphere for interactivity. Nevertheless, the union of the two concepts sure is tantalizing. Check the game play after the break.

So what you see here is exactly what AT&T and Microsoft will be deploying to a handful of stores on April 17 -- 12 stores in four cities, to be exact -- and we have to admit, this appears to be a pretty flawless execution of the Surface's user interface concepts and a great business model for the 30 inch, multitouch monster to undertake. Being able to throw down a phone or two and get specs, review plans, and compare features is simply jaw-droppingly cool, though what really got us was another feature that AT&T has apparently been tossing around as a future possibility: device-to-device transfer. The idea is that a customer would walk in to purchase a new phone, place both phones on the surface, and contacts, photos, music, and so on stored on the old handset would appear on the Surface, where they could be selectively dragged to the new one or discarded. Even better, you have the exciting opportunity to pick up the last user's norovirus as you run your hand along the thing. One suggestion, AT&T: keep some bleach handy. Please. For our sake. Follow the break for the video!

No, Microsoft hasn't suddenly transformed its 30-inch, multi-touch Surface into a big-ass cellphone. It has, however, chosen AT&T to launch the world's first Surface into retail. Shoppers in New York, Atlanta, San Antonio, and San Francisco will be treated to what amounts to the novelty (at least initially) of learning about a device (Samsung BlackJack II, pictured) by simply placing it atop the Surface. They'll also have the ability to explore interactive coverage maps. Later, users will be able to drag ringtones, graphics and video and drop it into "the phones." Note their use of "the" and not "your" phone in the press release. Nevertheless, we're happy to see Microsoft get the technology out the door on its long march towards consumerdom.

Update: Interestingly enough, AT&T's flagship iPhone will not be one of the first phones demonstrated on Surface. Perhaps AT&T / Microsoft worry about a multi-touch collision creating consumer strangelets.

The last we heard about a consumer-oriented version of Microsoft Surface, Steve Ballmer was saying that the company was trying to get it out ASAP -- which is apparently three years, we've just learned. That's the word from Tom Gibbons, the MS VP in charge of Specialized Devices and Applications, who says Microsoft can "absolutely see how" to get Surface to consumers by 2011, but that it'll try to beat that deadline if possible. Of course, the $10,000 commercial version of Surface still hasn't been released to high-profile customers like T-Mobile and Harrah's, although it's starting to make semi-random promo appearances here and there. Still, though, 2011? We're getting pretty sick of old-school Hungry Hungry Hippos here, people -- let's make this happen.

While we wait for those Microsoftees to pull it together and get real with a shippable version of Surface, we can enjoy the valiant efforts of modders like Xylomn. This guy built his very own touchable coffee table PC with a 24-inch display and a ceiling-mounted camera for tracking hand motions. Since it's part of his dissertation for his software engineering degree, Xylomn also worked up some custom software which allows users to beam media to the PC via Bluetooth, and then geotag it on a touchable map. The table allows for multiple users at once, and the interface part of the software rotates automatically towards whoever is grubbing up the display at that point.

[Via Geeky Gadgets]

While we've yet to see the rollout of Microsoft's Surface, rumor has it that other versions have at least made it to the prototype stage. According to ZDNET's sources, Microsoft has a "spherical Surface prototype" bouncing around the Redmond campus. What's intriguing is how they managed to stuff a rear projection unit and IR cameras into a ball. Presumably, we're talking about a different touch-sensitive technology to that used in the table-top surface. You know, assuming the rumor is true.

We were originally supposed to see a "limited rollout" of Surface in 2007 at various Harrah's casino properties, which obviously didn't happen -- but despite the delays, Microsoft is apparently now feeling confident enough in the tech to let B- and C-list celebrities grope at it during the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Drawing Party at Caesar's Palace. Unlike the standard demos we saw at CES which involved relentlessly upbeat hipster presenters doing things like making custom snowboard designs, the motley crew at Caesar's was apparently only allowed to crudely write their names on photographs of themselves. You can almost see the joy in Jason Alexander's face, can't you? Sadly, it looks like Don Cheadle wasn't able to erase whatever's printed on his jacket (seriously, uh, cool jacket, Cheadle) and poor Shannon Elizabeth didn't seem to be able make anything happen at all. Maybe Microsoft should have fired up that Hungry Hungry Hippos clone and let these fools battle out instead. All the photos at the read link for the crazed VH-1 fans in the house.

Oh boy, if ever there was a worthy use case for a giant $10k multi-touch table, it's a serene port of Hungry Hungry Hippos called Firefly, which Microsoft developed as a proof of concept for Surface. Just gather them into your jar. Go on, gather 'em up, those 100,000 fireflies aren't going to gather themselves. Video after the break.

Even though the first commercial deployments of Microsoft's Surface have been delayed until spring, it seems that enthusiasm for the tech is still strong in Redmond -- enough so that Steve Ballmer told reporters today that work on a consumer version has been sped up. The initial plan called for consumer-grade Surface products to, uh, surface in five years, but the demand for the tech is so high Ballmer said Microsoft is going to "follow our nose" and get it out ASAP. When that actually might be, we still don't know, but hey -- it's not like we're getting tired of that Big-Ass Table video anytime soon.

[Via The Raw Feed]

If you've absolutely, positively got to have a multi-touch display system right this second, look no further than the Germany company Lumin and its creatively named MultiTouch. For an undisclosed price (available on request) you and your loved ones can be pawing all over the 42-inch, 1024 x 768 display, which is powered by a Mac Mini and can be coupled with Apple's wireless keyboard and mouse. The screen -- which is quite similar to the LG.Philips display we got our mitts on at CES -- is driven by Lumin's proprietary software, and allows you to do all Surface-esque manner of tricks, like zooming, rotating, and panning with various finger / hand combinations. The company also appears to be offering rear-projection, front-projection, and "shaped" screens, though none of those seem to be sporting touch capabilities. Check out the super-cool video after the break and see what's happening over there.

[Thanks, Mike]

Not all the big news is coming out of CES today: thanks to Nathan Weinberg's InsideMicrosoft blog, we were able to check out a purported internal document detailing the revolutionary new input methods planned for Windows Mobile 7 as well as a ton of supposed screenshots. If this information is, in fact, accurate, it looks like Redmond is planning at least three methods of interacting with the device aside from pressing the usual buttons. First, as you might expect, is multi-touch capability á la the iPhone or Microsoft's own Surface, but it looks like WinMo 7 handsets will also be controllable via shaking and rotating the device, and even at a distance by way of camera-based gesture recognition. Again, no guarantees that any of these features will be included in the final version or that any of this info or images are even legit, but as you can see from the rather large gallery below, the mounting evidence is extremely compelling. Specifically, you'll definitely want to check out:

• New on-screen keyboard
• Gesture control
• Camera gesture recognition
• Touch-based photo editing
• Media player

While the tech demos are always sure to draw a crowd, Microsoft's Surface is still having trouble making it past the prototype stage. Originally slated to show up in a few commercial venues this year, applications of the tech have been pushed back to next spring at the earliest. Microsoft has plans to build devices for Sheraton hotels, Harrah's casinos and T-Mobile retail spots, but CNET reports that all the custom software needed and a lack of a one-size-fits-all solution for customers has Microsoft struggling to ship anything just yet. That said, there's still plenty of interest in Surface -- Microsoft says it's received 2,000+ inquiries from companies around the world and in many industries -- and while initial versions of the tabletop device are going to range from $5,000 to $10,000, Microsoft hopes to have a consumer-affordable version in three to five years.

We've seen projectors used in multi-touch applications before -- most notably in Microsoft's Surface -- but researchers at National Taiwan University have extended the concept by using two projectors at once. The i-m-Top system allows high-resolution overlays to appear over the main display, which can cover a 47-inch by 31-inch surface. NTU says that as soon as it lands a production partner, the $3000 system will be ready for market within six months, with costs expected to fall dramatically after that. Here's hoping -- we just watched Minority Report again the other night and we can't wait to have a Big-Ass Table of our own.

[Via TG Daily]

Well, it didn't take long for Microsoft's Surface to trickle down into the fast-paced world of card gaming (ala Magic). Feast your eyes on the next device your children will be shoveling money into like it's going out of style, a new Square Enix (makers of Final Fantasy) and Taito collaboration called The Wheel of Eternity. The card-based RPG appears to function much in the same way that Bill Gates described Surface's object recognition properties as working, "sensing" cards which are placed on the game area, and reacting to their status, movement and arrangement. There's no word on when or if this game is coming to the states, but with kids' unnatural obsession with card games (particularly those of a Japanese ilk), it seems likely this will be popping up on these shores before long.

Look, we're all about innovation, and you know deep down we really want our computers to be big-ass tables, but Savant's press release touting "the first Apple-based coffee table surface product" just made us cringe. Savant's Rosie touchscreen home-automation products are already well-respected, so there's no need to try and grab any tailfeathers here -- in fact, we think the specs sort of sell themselves: you're looking at a 40-inch touchscreen that sports iTunes integration, access to photos and movies, home-automation through the Rosie system, and, yes, runs on an internally-mounted Mac of some sort. More important than that, however, is the one spec that Microsoft's Surface can't currently match: Savant is getting ready to sell these to consumers, and soon. See? No need to to get crazy with the hype, now was there? Now just set a price and tell us when these'll ship, and we'll be all set.

[Via ShinyShiny]