http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/30/microsoft-surface-it-is-like-an-iphone-in-table-form/ and http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

It looks like interactive surfaces are all the rage nowadays. First we had the iPhone from Apple with its multi-touch technology and now we have Microsoft’s Surface (of course neither of these devices is actually shipping yet, but when does that stop us from talking about them?). Surface is a 30 inch screen that is mounted in a table. It uses a similiar touch interface as the iPhone does, but on a much larger scale. It can also interact with objects that are tagged using RFID tags, displaying information about the object. Microsoft eventually sees a point in the future when you would be able to rest your Zune (ha!) on the Surface and transfer songs from your library using only your fingertips as well as interact with other devices in the same fashion.

It does actually look very cool, granted as a concept it might take a while to become mainstream, and it might not be right for everyone, but in the meantime, it will be interesting to see what response they get, what applications it can be put to, could it identify me and then load my hotmail, my calendar etc? Start my applications? Would this mean I’d never have to wait to order/pay in one nandos/tgi friday’s restaurant again?

Also is it noisy? I don’t want a table that gets emotional, noisy and warms my legs… My trader workstations do that already..