Unfortunately for electronic table fetishists everywhere, you won't be able to walk into a restaurant, a casino or a retail outlet and play with a Microsoft Surface table until spring of next year. Why isn't it surfacing until then? Partners.

Partners who need Microsoft's help to build custom apps to fit Harrah's, Sheraton and T-Mobile needs for gambling, sleeping and phone choosing. Beyond the delay, Microsoft also has some interesting plans to expand from just the retail and hospitality industry to government, education and enterprise businesses to eventually, as Gates predicts, be on "every table," "every whiteboard," "every mirror" within 5 to 10 years. [News.com]

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