Comments

@Larry, thanks for the explanation.  Its just that I recall zoom/rotate being demonstrated in the older research videos.  I was sort of looking forward to using these gestures with Bing Maps.

@bas, I was wonder this too. Just guessing, but it might be translating gestures to scrollbar actions or keyboard shortcuts.  I don't think you can use the mouse surface to draw in MS Paint for example.

Thanks for the video.  Device looks great but I wonder why no zoom or rotate gestures?  These seem fairly easy to implement.

Windows 7 already supports this?

I wonder where Dell got their inspiration from...remember this...

Yeah, the lack of video/hdmi port is a bummer but the bigger issue for me is why they didn't put the webcam on the "flippy" part...so you could skype or what not when it is sitting in its dock.  With a few hardware improvements (hdmi, directx, viewing angle, webcam), I think Dell has a great "device" on their hands.  Microsoft has alot of work to do to make Windows work great on these devices though.  I'm a bit hestitant in buying a Windows based slate until I know what Microsoft has planned to address this.

Interesting.  But as far as I can tell, it won't playback Media Center TV recordings, it won't act like a Media Center Extender, it isn't able to access Zune MarketPlace to stream content and I have a feeling that the apps for this won't support support Silverlight/Silverlight streaming.  Other than Media Connect, there really isn't much of any Microsoft platform or service support here.  One nice thing is that Popcorn has its own app store.

Great looking Windows device.  The Android based units offer 10 point multitouch, hdmi, dolby...so I imagine those specs will definitely be part of the Windows sku as well.  And with AMD processor its probably a sure bet this will come with a DirectX 10+ graphics.  Then again, in 2011, with Intel Oaktrail etc, it doesn't make sense to buy anything without DirectX 10.  Especially if you want to take advantage of IE9's hardware acceleration.  The big unknown, price. 

Microsoft better be prepared to compete on finger friendlyness and low cost apps or those Android/Chrome models might grab 20% of consumer market in its first year. And I'm not entirely sure those folks who go the other way will bother buying a Windows PC in addition.  2011 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for Microsoft.  I'm looking forward to what they have announce at CES.

$850 with no webcam...please, dead on arrival.

@CKurt: +1 on expanding Silverlight to TV.  At least a more formal way of doing that.  Today you can build Silverlight apps targetting Media Center.  I'd like to see a shared app store between Media Center, XBox and perhaps other devices.  It would be interesting to know if anything came of that partnership with Intel and Broadcom to get Silverlight on their SOC solutions.

Thats cool.  I've been looking at Video Kinect as a way to potential bring video conferencing to the big screen at my parents house.  You know, see the grandchildren from out of state.  And having an XBox at the grandparents house would be welcomed news too.  I'm still investigating this.  I use Live Messenger for my small business as well.  However, Lync and Office 365 are potentially very interesting for my business.  I'm particularly interested in the VOIP capabilities.  Until now, Live Messenger has suited my business partners and I perfectly for IM/Video. The challenge I see is balancing business/personal communications.  Do I just run Lync and Live Messenger as needed or do I run both Lync and Live Messenger?