Wired News’ Michael Calore got the chance to check out Microsoft’s TechFest 07, an annual tech fair that brings all of MS’ research teams together for a little show and tell. Although there were a ton of prototypes to check out, Calore points out the more interesting ones, like MS’ digital shoebox concept (shown above), a storage device with a built-in LCD that archives all of your digital photos and lets you thumb through them via a touch-sensitive lid. Also demoed at the show were the “personal audio space” speakers, a pair of cans for your PC that project sound only to the person sitting directly in front of them. MS is even working on a new display technology…
dubbed the Telescopic Pixel, which promises to be faster and more efficient than today’s LCDs. Also noteworthy were the Bubble Board (a digital whiteboard that saves and plays voicemail messages) and MS’ networked videoconferencing device, which consists of a camera/projector combo that can be networked for bi-directional operation. Hit the link for Calore’s videos and other picks.
TechFest 07 [Monkey Bites via Gear Factor]
