On Wednesday at CES2011, Microsoft finally announced the next version of Microsoft Surface. It takes advantage of a new technology called PixelSense where IR sensing pixels are interwoven with display pixels right in the LCD display itself. The computer specifications were updated and form factor went through a major overhaul, making Surface 2.0 one sexy table computer:
My employer, InfoStrat, is a member of the Surface Technology Adoption Program (TAP), so we’ve had access to early SDK builds and have been giving feedback to the Surface team since May 2010. (Serious feedback… at the last TAP event I won a backpack full of swag for finding and submitting the most bugs during the TAP. Don’t worry, the bugs were all addressed.)
InfoStrat and other Surface TAP members have also been working on applications using Surface SDK 2.0. If you were watching the Microsoft CES2011 keynote (skip to 44:15), then you saw one of those applications. Unfortunately there wasn’t time to feature all of the partner applications during the keynote, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t show them to you anyway!
Today InfoStrat announced that we will be open sourcing several of our WPF 4 data visualization controls that we designed for Surface SDK 2.0. This includes the DeepZoom and Pivot controls I’ve been hinting about on twitter as well as a few others. Unfortunately, we cannot publish the controls or code quite yet. We have to wait until Surface SDK 2.0 becomes available to the public.
We’ve been working on these controls for several months and so I’m very excited to share with you a video of these controls used in our Surface 2.0 application, InfoStrat Show for Microsoft Surface. This application is designed to take advantage of the unique capabilities of Microsoft Surface to enable natural and engaging presentations and small group collaboration. This video is just a sneak peak at the controls. We’ll be sharing more as we get closer to the code release. Below the video is InfoStrat’s press release about the controls.
For Immediate Release
9 a.m. PST
January 6, 2010
InfoStrat Releases Next-Generation Data Visualization Controls for Microsoft Surface 2.0
Washington DC – January 6, 2010 – InfoStrat today announced plans to support Microsoft Surface 2.0 by releasing a control suite that accelerates the development of next-generation multi-touch data visualizations. The controls will be made available as open source software at no charge on CodePlex.com in the first half of 2011.
This data visualization control suite provides multi-touch versions of the following controls:
§ Deep Zoom multi-resolution image control that allows high performance display of very high-resolution imagery
§ PowerPoint Viewer which enables slide decks to be arranged and presented using multi-touch
§ Pivot Viewer chart control that allows dynamic sorting and categorization of data
§ Physics Canvas which provides an infinite, dynamic canvas for viewing and organizing content
Other features of the controls:
§ Works on both Microsoft Surface and Microsoft Windows 7 with touch
§ A single application built with the data visualization framework can support multiple hardware form factors including: horizontal multi-touch tables, tablets, and large format vertical touch screens
§ Innovative object recognition to enable rapid data manipulations (only on Microsoft Surface)
Watch a sneak preview of the control suite on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEVtjHlrf4I
InfoStrat is a member of Microsoft’s Technology Adoption Program (TAP) for Microsoft Surface. As a Microsoft Surface 2.0 TAP member, InfoStrat receives early access to hardware and software, allowing InfoStrat to gain expertise and influence the development of the product before it was released to the public.
In 2008, InfoStrat solved the problem of using Bing Maps 3D on Microsoft Surface in a way that performed well and was WPF-friendly. InfoStrat open-sourced the solution as a reusable control for the WPF and Surface community. Since then, the control has received over 120,000 page views and has over 8200 downloads, and has also been featured in many of our own applications. This control, known as InfoStrat.VE, has become one of the most popular controls for building mapping applications on Microsoft Surface: http://bingmapswpf.codeplex.com
“We are proud to be part of the Microsoft Surface development community,” according to Jim Townsend, president of InfoStrat, “and excited about the possibilities of Microsoft’s new version of Surface.”
Microsoft Surface provides a new way to experience and use information and digital content, engaging the senses, improving collaboration and empowering people to interact. Microsoft Surface is at the forefront of developing software and hardware that uses vision-based technology to fundamentally change the way people use computing devices. More information can be found at http://www.surface.com.
Information Strategies ("InfoStrat") is an award-winning Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a Microsoft Surface Strategic Partner and member of the Technology Adopter Program.
For more information, press only:
Josh Wall, InfoStrat, (202) 364-8822 ext. 202, joshw@infostrat.com
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Finally getting caught up on everything post-ces. These controls look great, and will likely be a huge help to the surface dev community. Thanks!
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