Our initial experience with Windows 7's multitouch was decidedly less than stellar, but it looks like Microsoft's taking the initiative to ramp up the usability with the newly-unveiled Touch Pack. It's a software suite consisting of three games and three Surface apps, including a a globe you can pinch and twist around, the ever-popular surface collage for images, and and a zen-inspired lagoon screensaver. OEMs making touchscreen-capable Windows 7 rigs are being offered the pack to use as a pre-installed option, so look for these to arrive around the same time as the new OS, which should be sometime this holiday season. In the meantime, GottaBeMobile's gotten their hands on the app collection early, and you can view their efforts in the video after the break.

Read - Windows 7 Team Blog
Read - GottaBeMobile's hands-on

Forget the future for just one second. Kicking off its TechEd conference last week, Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for its tabletop-inclined Surface. The update's mostly developer-centric -- not too surprising given its small customer base at present -- with one of the only bullet points that'll directly interest the end user being new calibration guides for setting up the system without needing an external display. No indication on if set up still requires a keyboard a mouse, but if that's a concern, keep your fingers crossed they find a way around that before you pony up the $13,000 to join Lazarra and Roker as an early adopter.

The problem with most so-called "homes of the future" is that they come off looking like a theme-park vision of the space age (read: the 1970s). The Microsoft Home, however, manages to piece together a realistic vision of our homes on a 5 to 10 year horizon -- a timeline just long enough to allow the nascent technologies of today to go mainstream. As such, it's no surprise to find dwellers interacting with the environment through gestures and voice to control interactive cooking surfaces in the kitchen and the digital wall paper in the kids' room. More prophetic perhaps, the promise that "one day your computer will be a big-ass table" appears to be coming true in the dining room. Take the tour in video form after the break.

Microsoft's Surface has been shipping out to corporate customers for a year now, but we haven't heard much about the backend setup of the $17,000 table -- sure, we know it's fun when it's up and running all those custom apps, but what's it like after the unboxing? Incredibly frustrating, says FD kinesis's Gordon Miller. Hired to implement a Surface solution for a client, Miller and his team first spent 30 minutes on the phone with MS phone support trying to locate the power socket, and another lengthy period of time poking at an unresponsive touchscreen before realizing that the Surface doesn't respond to touch out of the box. Yep, you read that right -- Microsoft's $17,000 big-ass touchscreen table requires a keyboard and mouse to set up, something which isn't noted in any of the marketing or manuals. Ouch. Hopefully that'll get fixed before this thing ships to consumers in 2011, but in the meantime, hit the read link for the entire harrowing tale -- it's a pretty fun read for a Friday afternoon.

P.S.- We actually talked to Gordon on the phone for a quick minute and he said that Microsoft's been in touch about the experience -- he's working on an new post about that which we'll link when it goes up.

Update: As promised, here's the followup, which includes Microsoft's response.

[Via Daring Fireball]

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense for Epson to get into the touch-surface game -- most of the larger versions are projector-based, and Epson's been making great little beamers for quite some time. Showcased earlier this year at ISE 2009 alongside a multitouch air hockey table, the Core 2 Duo-powered X-Desk boasts a 1,024 x 768 resolution panel and possesses the ability to recognize up to 16,000 objects using "Smart Tags." Also of note, gesture recognition software enables users to actually speak to the table and see results, though there's no word on whether raising your voice or blurting out obscenities improves efficiency. Like all of these things, we've nary a clue when they'll really be available for the layperson to purchase, but you can certainly live vicariously by hopping past the break.

[Via AboutProjectors]

Looking to have the best of both worlds in terms of virtual and physical interfacing, Media Computing Group's developed the Silicon Illuminated Active Peripherals (SLAP) which, as the name suggests, consists of tangible widgets that can be placed anywhere on a surface computer and used for context-specific controls. Examples used are an Optimus-esque keyboard, a slider similar to those found on audio boards, and a knob for video editing. It's a clever approach, sure, but here's hoping future implementations will be able to include a sharper, higher resolution screen. Kindly direct yourself to the links below for video demonstration.

[Via Core77]

Read - Project website
Read - Video presentation

Hey, want to know what the future looks like? Okay, how about what Microsoft thinks the future will look like? If you're still reading, Stephen Elop, Microsoft's Business Division President, recently presented that vision as part of this year's TechFest. In an embedded video below you can get a glimpse, which includes plenty of augmented reality, a personal identification device that could (finally) replace your wallet, and naturally lots and lots of Surface action -- extending from tables to walls and beyond. Some of these conceptual clips are old, but overall it looks like something of a computing utopia to us, and according to Elop these are all representative of currently active projects. But, with the company shedding employees and surely focusing on tangible revenue right now, we're wondering how long they'll stay that way.

You heard right, folks. There's absolutely no need to wait until 2011 in order to buy yourself a personal Surface. Instead, you can grab one of Microsoft's multitouch phenomenons this June, but there's just one tiny catch: it comes attached at the waist with a multi-million dollar yacht. Down at the Miami Yacht & Brokerage Show this month, Lazzara Yachts showcased its soon-to-be-released LMC 76, which -- coincidentally enough -- comes loaded with a Surface along with software from Infusion Development. The boat (and by extension, the Surface) should be ready to take on the open seas in just a few months, but there's no indication yet on exactly how many New York banks you'll have to rob in order to make it happen. If you need some encouragement on turning to the dark side, a hands-on demo video is just past the break.

[Via Beyond | IT, thanks Roy]

Read - Details from Lazzara
Read - Hands-on experience

Move over Surface, we just found our next tabletop display. The aptly named DIS.PLAY beautifully merges the functionality of a touch panel with the allure of dimly-lit scenarios, and the inclusion of memory foam just makes it all the more sweet. In one usage scenario, we're told that objects could be put into motion with sound, and when a certain "shape" is mashed and deformed, the respective audio would bend along with it. Another instance showcased 3D modeling that could be varied by simply twisting the hand or intensifying a finger press. Check the demonstration video after the break, and grab your Tempur-Pedic pillow if you're looking to play along.

[Via KanYeWestBlog, thanks DellAppleFan24]

We heard that the SMART Table would be ready for playtime in Spring of 2009, and here she is, a few months early. The kid-friendly multitouch table is now available for purchase in North America and the United Kingdom, and as expected, it's being marketed towards educational institutions looking for new and exciting ways to help kids learn. The 230i (the only model currently offered) weighs in at 150 pounds and features an XGA DLP projector, integrated speakers, an inbuilt digital camera to track touches and multitouch capabilities courtesy of DViT (Digital Vision Touch) technology. We're still not told just how much resellers will be charging, but we'll stick to the "at least seven or eight grand" figure we heard when toying with one last October. Demo vid is after the break.

Ideum designs has unveiled a multitouch table targeted specifically for the museum crowd. The MT2 Table is composed of aircraft-grade aluminum and sports a 50-inch tempered glass widescreen display with 1280 x 720 resolution and 2000:1 contrast ratio -- that's a good deal larger than Microsoft Surface and its 30-inch screen. The DLP-based projector system has 2100 ANSI brightness and a 3,000-hour bulb life. Tactile response is measured via dual-camera IR system, and the whole thing is powered by a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 512MB, 4GB RAM, 1250GB HDD, and Windows XP. Each table comes bundled with Swedish-based Natural User Interface's Snowflake software and lets you create your own apps using Flash, Java, Python, and C/C++/C#. According to the press release, the first owners will be the Don Harrington Discovery Center in Amarillo, Texas and Vulcan Park and Museum in Birmingham, Alabama -- doesn't look like they're vying for the coveted DJ Roker demographic. Video of the table in action embedded after the break.

[Via slashgear; thanks, Chris]

When Microsoft demonstrated Surface we were impressed. Then, when they later showed off SecondLight, we were even more impressed -- and then were sorry for anyone who had made the considerable investment in one of the earlier, singularly-lighted tables. We're feeling better now (thanks for asking) after seeing a video demonstration of XRay, a mobile app from Stimulant (who earlier blended a Wii Balance Board with a Surface) that provides similar functionality; letting you effectively see secondary images on the touch-table. The app relies on the ability of the Surface to detect where the phones are, communicating that position to tell them what to display and in what orientation. First up was the iPhone, as seen above, but the app has apparently already been ported to Windows Mobile and Android, meaning most-anyone can get in on the action -- assuming they have both a smart table and smart phone. A-ha-inspired video included below for your '80s flashback amusement.

If you've been watching the news this week, you might have caught NFL security VP Milton Ahlerich saying that Raymond James Stadium in Tampa will be "one the safest locations you can possibly be" during the Super Bowl on Sunday, and it looks like Microsoft Surface will be a big reason why: it's being used to coordinate security forces around the site. It's seriously slick -- maps are integrated with planning and voice communications software so the field commanders can immediately assess incident responses and personnel deployments, with the ability to initiate radio contact directly from the interface. Definitely much cooler than zooming in and out of photos and ordering drinks, we'd say -- video after the break.