There is the fundamental change is occurring in the world of technology, a new type of computer that is arriving in the unusual form of a coffee table. This past March, Microsoft invited popular mechanics to the companies Redman Washington campus for a first look at a top secret project code name Milan. It is the first of its kind in that it is new paradiamond computing, is called surface computing. This type of interface work especially well for photo sharing, maps and menus, for browsing on a tradition screen pales in comparison to the detail hands on manipulation people are used to with paper. You can do things like: organize your photos, drag am around and resize them and play with them as if they were real photos, real printed photos and here we even have a video. Surface computing utilizes multi touch technology which is a multi finger, multi user interface that is been dancing around computer science since the l980’s.

This is a multi touch input device and multi touch which generally means multi point input devices are about allowing more then one input to be process at the time. NYU computer scientist Jefferson Han (Founder, Perceptive pixel) build huge multi touch displays for corporate military clients through his company Perceptive pixel. In fact multi touch is swiftly becoming the hot interface for electronic devices. Multi touch first fully allows direct manipulation that means you are actually contacting on the graphic itself, it’s the direct manipulation. Never fact, two it mean I can do more then one point of time I can actually use two or three which mean I can manipulate more things at a time but with mouse we can only manipulate one or two things at a time.

But where Microsoft Surface computer truly get mind blowing is how it interacts with other devices. The surface computer uses a series of infrared cameras to literally see what is on its table top. What we were able to do is also have interaction with objects on the surface so when we place an objects on the surface, the cameras goanna recognize what that object is and allows us to interact directly with that object what we have display on the surface. We see this is a whole new category, a complete new eco system for computers. Here we have a wireless camera and a lot of wireless functionality is built in to the surface computing platform and it’s evolving into devices such as this camera. So, here we can take the picture from the digital camera and then just put the camera right on the device and use that picture. We have a cell phone and all the wireless linking is going on behind the scene in the table. So, you can take the photo and then instantly put in on your wireless device and then take it with you. Now you basically taken two devices and without having to plug them into computer or sync them up you transfer content from one to the other.

Other surface computing may eventually find a place in the home but Microsoft actually plans to sell the devices to commercial partners such as T-Mobile, Paris Casinos, and Star Wood Hotels. The US$ 5,000 to US$ 10,000 machines will start showing up in local retail stores as early as the end of 2007.

But where is all of this leading? Computer scientists see a near future of ubiquitous computing where people are surrounded by intelligent surfaces. Maybe the surface of your kitchen table or it can be in front of your television unit and it can help you to control your television as the ultimate remote control. Eventually of course this will triple down and I do I am very positive and I firmly believe that this kind of thing will be in that near future where we have wallpaper displays in every hallway, every desk, every surface starts to become a near face of computer and in order for that to happen we need interfaces like this.

Next Generation of Technology from Microsoft – Click to Watch the video of Microsoft Surface: Hands-on First Look

Enjoy Great New Generation of Technologies

- Sakin

The depth of Microsoft’s online problem became clear 18 months ago, when Google trumped its bid to handle search advertising for MySpace, the popular social networking site.

MySpace owner News Corp. (NWS) liked Microsoft (MSFT) well enough. But it had to go with the money. Because Google (GOOG), the top search engine, could guarantee a larger audience and thus more revenue in a search deal, it won the MySpace account. “They said to Microsoft, ‘Look, if you can get there in revenue we’d prefer to go with you,’ ” said a source familiar with Microsoft’s side of the negotiations. “It came down to a pure economic decision.”

Technology battles often unfold like sumo matches, where the biggest companies win by pushing opponents around – and Microsoft, the world’s largest technology company by market value, has dominated the wrestling ring for years. But in the online world, Microsoft finds itself in the unusual position of small fry, getting shoved aside by Google.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has cited Microsoft’s online size disadvantage as the reason he is pushing ahead with a hostile bid of more than $40 billion for Yahoo (YHOO). To get the deal done, he is prepared to break two unspoken rules that have guided Microsoft purchases in the past: Microsoft never buys mega-companies, and it never forces itself on folks who don’t want to be bought.

The reason why Ballmer is willing to take drastic measures? Google is doing to the online advertising market what Wal-Mart (WMT) did to small-town retailers. Much as Wal-Mart turned its huge selection and crowds of customers to out-sell competitors, Google has used its search engine’s popularity to pull in advertisers and get them more bang for their marketing buck. Just as many manufacturers feel they must sell their products through Wal-Mart to reach consumers, advertisers feel they must deal with Google to get results. As Microsoft has lost ad deals time and again, it has become clear to executives that they need to take a bold step.

“Microsoft has been slow to gain critical mass in an area where this is the key to success,” Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note earlier this year. “The online advertising industry has the growth and market potential to move the needle, even for a company of Microsoft’s size.” A combination with Yahoo would arguably give Microsoft a greater share of the online audience, which should drive more searches, attract more advertisers, and bring in more money.

Back to the wrestling metaphor, there is more at stake for Microsoft than just the embarrassment of losing. The software giant, which rakes in billions of dollars in cash every quarter from sales of its Windows operating system and Office productivity software, is used to getting occasionally manhandled by opponents when it enters new markets. But in the past, Microsoft has always been able to use its juggernaut size and financial resources to gradually wear down opponents. But with Google, that old wrestling technique just isn’t working in online advertising.

By itself, Google’s advertising dominance might not be such a big problem – except that the online company is using its advertising bulk to wrestle its way into markets that Microsoft has long dominated. Google’s online-based software for documents and spreadsheets offers an alternative to Microsoft Office, and its relationship with the organization behind the Firefox web browser threatens Internet Explorer. Perhaps most alarming to Microsoft, Google has aggressively supported non-Microsoft cell phone software through its promotion of its own Android phone software and its services for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone.

Microsoft has pooh-poohed Google’s software efforts, pointing out that Google’s software lacks the features and polish of more mature offerings, and that Google’s software efforts aren’t profitable. But even as it downplays Google’s efforts, there’s clear cause for worry: These are the same put downs Microsoft competitors like Apple, Netscape and Palm (PALM) once aimed at Microsoft when it challenged their products with Windows, Internet Explorer and Pocket PC. Tech historians know how those battles turned out; because Microsoft’s core businesses allowed it to keep improving its new products, it eventually surpassed its rivals.

To keep Google from accomplishing the same trick, Microsoft needs to mount a convincing challenge in online advertising. And to do that, Microsoft has to get big, fast. That’s why, even though Yahoo is resisting a deal, Microsoft will likely move quickly to get a deal done as soon as the end of 2008. A source with knowledge of Microsoft’s legal strategy says that once Microsoft makes shareholders an official offer to buy out their shares, federal regulators can begin reviewing the deal – a process that Microsoft believes could be wrapped up in six to nine months.

Why the need for speed? Google gets stronger by the day. And once Google gets international approval for its purchase of ad powerhouse DoubleClick — a development that could happen soon — its Internet empire will begin to gather so much momentum, and size, that it might shove Microsoft out of the online advertising ring for good.

(Source: Fortune Magazine)

- Sakin

The announcements were part of a broad management reorganization involving seven new senior vice presidents and seven new corporate vice presidents.

One of the more significant leadership changes was in the cellphone operations. Andy Lees was named senior vice president for mobile communications operations. Mr. Lees, who had overseen the server business, succeeds Pieter Knook, who, the company said, “made the decision to leave Microsoft to pursue other opportunities.”

Microsoft has been paying more attention to its cellphone business following the introduction of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android software operating system. In only a few months of the iPhone’s release, according to Canalys, a market research firm, Apple gained 28 percent of the smartphone market in the United States, a greater share of the market than the cellphones using Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software. Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, leads the category that has been dominated by phones made for business users.

Microsoft is showing more interest in the consumer market. This week it announced it was buying Danger, the maker of the popular Sidekick cellphone.

Analysts said that Microsoft was moving to confront a growing competitive threat from a range of companies that have positioned themselves to offer Web-based alternatives to Microsoft’s core office-productivity applications. The other major change was the replacement of Steve Berkowitz, the current senior vice president of Microsoft’s Online Services group. Mr. Berkowitz, the former chief executive of the online site Ask Jeeves, was hired with great fanfare in April 2006 to help revive Microsoft’s search and portal operations. Microsoft has been unable to make a dent in Google’s growing dominance in search and search advertising. Mr. Berkowitz will leave the company this August, the company said.

Responsibility for online operation was split among three executives who will work in the combined organization that handles both Internet activities and the Windows operating system, which is run by Kevin Johnson.

Satya Nadella, will be the senior vice president for the search, portals and advertising group. Mr. Nadella is on the engineering side of Microsoft, and will look after the technical side of Web search, advertising systems and related systems. He will also have responsibility for the programming of the MSN portal.

Bill Veghte, will be the senior vice president for online services and Windows, handling sales, marketing and product management both for Windows and online operations.

Brian McAndrews, the senior vice president of the advertiser and publisher solutions group, will look after the strategy and marketing of Microsoft’s online activities jointly with Mr. Veghte and Mr. Nadella.

(Source: The New York Times)

Sakin