Microsoft unveils surface computer

Microsoft has revealed plans for Microsoft Surface, the first product in a category the company calls "surface computing," says PC World.

The technology, formerly code-named Milan, lets Microsoft turn a seemingly ordinary surface, such as a tabletop or a wall, into a computer. Microsoft Surface is a "multi-touch" tabletop computer that interacts with users through touch on multiple points on the screen.

Users interact with the computer completely by touch, on a surface other than a standard screen. "It will feel like Minority Report," says Pete Thompson, GM of Microsoft's surface computing group. "Very futuristic - but it will be here this year."

Google has taken its mapping technology one step further by giving users 360-degree vistas of mapped streets from the kerbside, reports News.ninemsn.

Concurrently, Microsoft has added new photo-realistic three-dimensional imaging to its mapping service in what is becoming a race to grab a larger slice of the rapidly growing digital cartography market.

Google has launched the Street View application for Google Maps, which provides a street-level picture of downtown areas of New York, Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami. The company says it plans to roll-out the service to metropolitan areas in other Google regions, including Australia, although there is no timetable as yet.

Sony will ship two HD Radio tuners this summer, reports Arstechnica. The new tabletop and mobile radio tuners come as the first part of a multiyear agreement by Sony to develop and distribute products that support HD Radio.

HD Radio is considered satellite radio's main competitor, since it offers high-quality digital audio streams from AM and FM stations. Unlike satellite radio, it will be available free to anyone who has a compatible receiver.

With a compressed 96kbps signal for FM and 32kbps for AM, "near-CD-quality" broadcasts from traditional radio stations sound appealing to those who don't want to invest in a subscription to satellite radio.