Cool Stuff from Microsoft

Apple has a reputation for introducing jaw-dropping new products that were developed secretly. But within the past week or so, Microsoft has rolled out Surface, a touch-screen interface based on a display embedded in a table top, and Photosynth, which "takes a large collection of photos of a place or an object, analyzes them for similarities, and then displays the photos in a reconstructed three-dimensional space, showing you how each one relates to the next. You can access gigabytes of photos in seconds, view a scene from nearly any angle, find similar photos with a single click, and zoom in to make the smallest detail as big as your monitor."

Popular Mechanics has a nice video showing Surface in action.

To see how Photosynth works, check out this stunning video from the TED conference. Be prepared to pick your jaw up off the floor.