Microsoft snaps up Lonely Planet and the Sci-Fi PC

First discovered last year, $ US12, 500 ($ 15,400) vehicles were introduced in some U.S. hotels and restaurants - for example, "Sheraton, Starwood and Harrah chain - let customers directly for food, books and music and play fun games.

Computers, which has 30-inch touch screen panel, which is controlled by hand gestures similar to those found in science fiction movie Minority Report. They can also interact with non-digital objects placed on them.

Lonely Planet Australia became the first local company to use a radical new Microsoft Surface coffee table computer that responses to natural hand gestures and real-world objects.

Travel publishers that opened its first brick and mortar store in the airport in Sydney next month, Microsoft has a license to develop a proof of concept to achieve the objectives of installing the surface state of the art computers in retail stores in the future.

Lonely Planet with the application shown in the Microsoft "Remix 09 conference in Sydney, customers can transfer to one of Lonely Planet guides in the shop, you can put it on the table and they are then presented with a wide range of content for that destination, including videos , maps, photographs and down time, live weather data and the corresponding positions in the Lonely Planet forums.

All content can be modified and moved around the table with your hand gestures. You can get a mini-map "passport" stamped on the table and then slide over any content they wish to reconsider their passports.

Passport URL and each has a unique code, so when the user get to their destination, they can log on to internet internet café, you must enter the code and then download all the content they save through the surface.

"Lonely Planet marks the first Australian to begin serious study of what can be a surface," said Microsoft Australia user visionary, Shane Morris.

From Starwood Hotels in the U.S., customers can pay for the goods that fell from the credit card touch screen, while those who visit the U.S. stores Telco AT & T can compare phone features and plans for the creation of two different phones on the table.

Casino giant Harrah Surface computer introduced in Rio, which allow patrons to drink, do noon reservations, book shows, watch YouTube videos, play games and flirt with the press of people sitting at other tables.