Microsoft Debuts ‘Minority Report’-Like Surface Computer

clipped from www.pcworld.com After five years of keeping the project shrouded in secrecy, Microsoft today revealed its plans for Microsoft Surface, the first product in a category the company calls “surface computing.” The technology, formerly code-named Milan, lets Microsoft turn a seemingly ordinary surface, such as a tabletop or a wall, into a computer. Introduced today at the D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, California, Microsoft Surface is a “multi-touch” tabletop computer that interacts with users through touch on multiple points on the screen.The concept is simple: Users interact with the computer completely by touch, on a surface other than a standard screen. “It will feel like Minority Report,” promises Pete Thompson, general manager of Microsoft’s surface computing group. “Very futuristic–but it will be here this year.” In Pictures: Microsoft’s Multi-Touch ‘Surface’ Table Watch the video here or download it: iPod, PSP, WMV, WMV (High), Zune

Click here for the interview transcript.