Thursday is when the public at large invades the Consumer Electronics Show, but most of the cool stuff was announced earlier this week, including a refreshed version of Microsoft’s Surface tabletop -- now with a price cut that still doesn’t make it affordable for us working stiffs.
ZDNet is reporting that Microsoft showed off what it dubs as “Surface 2.0” on Wednesday night at CES 2011 to the delight of the press in attendance. The new multitouch tabletop, which is actually called Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface (whew!) comes with a retail price tag of $7,600 -- which is still cheaper than the original 1.0 Surface which cost over $12,000.
According to Panos Panay, Microsoft Surface’s General Manager, the 2.0 Surface will ship “later in 2011 in 23 countries around the world.” Among their “committed customers” are Red Bull, Royal Bank of Canada, Fuji Film, Dassault Aviation and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts.
Microsoft is currently only working with Samsung, citing their “strengths in LCD technology, hardware design and manufacturing” as well as “worldwide marketing and sales of large format displays.” However, the folks in Redmond don’t rule out other companies in the future.
The guts of Microsoft Surface 2.0 include a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional, the operating system that drives the software end of things, with an “embedded AMD Athlon II X2 Dual-Core Processor 2.9GHz paired with the AMD Radeon HD 6700M Series GPU featuring DirectX 11 support to deliver significant processing horsepower and outstanding graphics capability.”
Judging from the sneak peek and accompanying photo, Surface 2.0 is a bit leaner than its predecessor as well. “The entire product is four inches thin, which includes the glass, PC and enclosure,” reveals Panay. “Forty-inch full high-definition (HD) 1080p screen. The 40-inch screen enables unparalleled multi-user experiences in full HD 1080p, with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 1920×1080 resolution. Designed for commercial environments. The product is designed to meet the challenges of active usage in demanding locations such as retail, hospitality and education.”
Looks and sounds pretty good to us -- who wants to start a piggy bank to buy one?
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(Image courtesy of ZDNet)
