Microsoft demos multi-touch notebook PC

Microsoft can apply the multi-touch technology stemming from its Surface computer table even to notebook computers, the company has revealed in a demo video. Researchers at Microsoft's Cambridge, UK location have modified a standard Dell notebook to include infrared detectors behind the screen, achieving the same effect as the cameras in Surface without the associated size. The technology can apply the same dragging, pinching, and tapping motions and applies them to an otherwise standard Windows Vista install which still accepts normal input, researcher Steve Hodges demonstrates.

No timetable has been given for implementing the technology in a shipping product, which for now would reach a premium price through adding the sensors. Surface contrasts sharply with the multi-touch technology used in Apple's upcoming iPhone, which uses touch sensitivity in the screen itself to handle multiple points of contact. [via On10]