Tangible progress
AT&T and MS announced what may well become a standard sales tool for tech retailers in Las Vegas yesterday.
A pilot installation of the 30-inch, coffee table display of the MS Surface computer is to be installed in selected AT&T stores across the USA, starting 17 April.
If the technology delivers as promised, the installation will become a ‘must have’ for retailers.
After placing a device on the screen, potential customers will be able to review its features and capabilities on an interactive touch display – or place another device next to it and compare the two.
A bonus application for the pilot scheme will offer customers the ability to create their own maps, using hand movements to create the required coverage and scale from an installed library.
For the future, customers will be able to customise the phones they select by manually ‘grabbing’ features from a display of graphics, video, ring tones and so on, and ‘dropping’ them into the device.
AT&T and MS spokespersons are ‘thrilled’ and ‘excited’ about their collaboration, but once the bugs are worked out following the pilot installation, and MS Surface installed in AT&T’s 2,200 retail stores, their hyperbole may well be justified. Other phone stores will be champing at the bit.
There should not be many bugs – the technology is, shall we say, tried and true, as Microsoft Research’s very own Bill Buxton explains in his useful paper posted here.
The initial price for the table will be in the £2,500-5,000 range, but MS says cheaper (and lighter?) models will follow in three to five years.
