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Oahu: Microsoft Surface for the Masses

Exploring the consumer appeal of surface computing

By Marius Oiaga, Technology News Editor

14th of October 2008, 15:59 GMT

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At $12,500 and $15,000, which are both price tags for Microsoft Surface, the first commercial surface computing product from the Redmond company is bound to not go mainstream anytime soon. But what if the software giant dropped the price? In fact, what if Microsoft introduced a new surface computing offering for just $1,499, namely 10 times less than the most expensive version of Microsoft Surface today? Whether or not such a product would have any sort of appeal to consumers is precisely what Microsoft is trying to find out via a survey for a multi-touch tabletop computer dubbed Oahu, courtesy of Long Zheng.

"Oahu is a flat screen that sits horizontally like a table top. You can interact with Oahu by touching the screen, instead of using a mouse, and more than one person can interact with Oahu at the same time. You and others can move objects on the screen with your hands and touch icons to open up programs, games, or music. People using the device can also use their fingertips to expand and shrink objects on the screen. The screen recognizes people’s hand movements and touches and reacts accordingly. You can bring up an on-screen keyboard to input information. Oahu also works with other devices (such as digital cameras, cell phones, and MP3 players) by getting information from or sending information to them," reads a fragment of the survey.

Of course, Oahu is nothing more than an evolved version of Microsoft Surface, although the Redmond giant still has to confirm whether the product is real or just made up for the sake of gathering feedback. However, Microsoft has been aiming for the masses since it first delivered Surface, a product initially reserved for corporate consumers. But now Oahu, a tabletop computer with support for multi-touch and gestural natural user interface could make its way into homes as part of a piece of furniture.

In the survey, Microsoft is describing a device that could be used by up to four people concomitantly. The interaction model would be similar to what Microsoft Surface is offering today, although at the cost of just $1,499. At the same time, Oahu could act as a central hub for the household, as a nucleus for all the devices in the home.

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