Next Generation of Microsoft Surface Available for Pre-Order

This week Microsoft and Samsung announced the next generation of the Microsoft Surface, and I want one!

PixelSense

PixelSense allows an LCD display to recognize fingers, hands, and objects placed on the screen, including more than 50 simultaneous touch points. With PixelSense, pixels in the display see what’s touching the screen and that information is immediately processed and interpreted.

Thin Form Factor with Multiple Configuration Options

The product is four inches thin, which makes it easy to use in a horizontal deployment, hang on the wall with the VESA mount, or embed in walls or custom enclosures. There are standard legs available or a customer can design and attach their own.

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface provides business customers a premier touch-first experience for their end-users, built on the principles of direct interaction and together computing, with a new look and feel. It also allows commercial application developers to use a new version of the Microsoft Surface SDK and familiar Microsoft development tools to take full advantage of the massive multi-touch and object recognition capabilities of PixelSense and deliver experiences not possible on any other platform.

Powerful Embedded System

The product uses the embedded AMD Athlon™ II X2 Dual-Core Processor 2.9GHz paired with AMD HD6750M GPU featuring DirectX 11 support to deliver significant processing horsepower and outstanding graphics capability.

Here is the press release:

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Microsoft Corp. announced today that the next generation of Microsoft Surface is now available for pre-order through Samsung resellers in 23 countries worldwide including the United States, via the Samsung Electronics website at http://www.samsunglfd.com/solution/sur40.do. Initially unveiled by Samsung and Microsoft earlier this year, the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface features PixelSense technology, which gives LCD panels the power to see without the use of cameras.

 

“Customers across a wide range of industries currently integrate Microsoft Surface and make it relevant to their business needs, creating immersive, collaborative and meaningful experiences,” said Somanna Palacanda, director, Microsoft Surface. “With the Samsung SUR40 available for pre-order in 23 countries worldwide, Surface computing will now be more readily available for education, financial and professional services, healthcare, hospitality, retail, manufacturing and resources, and other commercial business environments to help deliver interactive digital content, drive sales, showcase brands, and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.”

 

The Samsung SUR40 with PixelSense technology makes it possible for people to share, collaborate and explore together using a large, thin display. Recognizing up to 50 points of simultaneous touch, including fingers, hands and other objects placed on the screen, it has been well-received by new and existing Surface customers as companies such as Dassault Aviation, Fujifilm Corp. and Royal Bank of Canada prepare to deploy units around the globe in early 2012.

 

“This pre-order phase brings us one step closer to getting the highly anticipated Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface into the hands of our customers,” said Charles Park, vice president at Samsung Electronics. “The Samsung SUR40 delivers a unique interactive experience that will significantly change the way companies engage with their customers.”

 

The Samsung SUR40 continues to capture the attention of industry influencers, from international businesses to media outlets. Announced earlier this week, the next-generation device was named a 2011 “Best of What’s New” award winner by Popular Science magazine and is featured in a special awards issue currently on newsstands.

 

“For 24 years, Popular Science has honored the innovations that surprise and amaze us — those that make a positive impact on our world today and challenge our views of whatʼs possible in the future,” said Mark Jannot, editor in chief of Popular Science. “The ‘Best of Whatʼs New’ award is the magazineʼs top honor, and the 100 winners — chosen from among thousands of entrants — represent the highest level of achievement in their fields.”

 

Software developers interested in creating solutions for the Samsung SUR40 can get started immediately by visiting the Surface Developer Center. The site provides free and easy access to the Surface 2.0 software developer kit, featuring the Input Simulator, which enables developers to write Surface applications on any Windows 7 machine, as well as other helpful developer-related resources. There are already hundreds of highly skilled Surface software development partners that can be found at http://www.surface.com.

 

Pre-orders are available to commercial businesses in 23 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Product availability in additional markets is expected in the coming months.

This does look very cool – and the price tag being mentioned is over $8000. I expect we will see more of it at CES in January.

More news on this soon.