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A new video and image was recently released showing off a little more of what makes the new Microsoft Sphere work. The latest video goes a little more in depth and shows off some of the features, but also gives us a little insight as to how it works. It even shows a computer that is off to the side that shows us what the Sphere was seeing as it was touched.

The video includes some info on the omni-directional camera, the circular menu that appears when users place both hands on the top of the Sphere and the mysterious sounding send-to-the-darkside gesture. A few other points, which are similar to what we have seen with the Surface were highlighted are the object auto-rotation which causes an image to rotate as it is pushed away, and also the photo and video browsers which are able to be dragged around, dropped where you want them and resized with two fingers.

Keep reading to check out the video below…

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Beginning today, August 13 a select group of Sheraton Hotels will have a Microsoft Surface table available in their lobby for guests to use, play with and just generally check out. The lucky locations will initially be limited to just five areas, and will include hotels in Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.

The Surface will have some customized apps installed and will include:

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Not much to go on here, but Zunescene is reporting phone giant Nokia is working with the Zune team to gain access to the Zunestore content.  This would be an inroads for Microsoft which current sits atop 0% of Nokia phone OS share.  Clearly, Microsoft wants to get on Nokia phones but is Zune the way to do it?

In my mind -and I am willing to say that I may be alone- Zune is a dead brand.  It represents a me-too attitude that got forgotten before it started. I’ve said before, much to our editor, Robert Nelson’s dismay, the Surface brand would be much better to bring in, especially if touch is the design make up.  Surface is still interesting and full of potential.  Zune, not so much.

So whether MS hopes to get its OS into european hands in a very big way or get their content sales up, it seems from this rumor, Nokia is interested.  Can Nokia resurrect the Zune brand?

Read [Zunescene]

The man that you see on the stage in the photo above is a magician.  Actually, he’s probably some representative for a company called Obscura Digital, but what he is doing is pure magic. 

His little performance involves waving his hands, and images of photos appear before him.  The pictures also move with a little motion-controlled telekinesis.  The images are holograms, and I would like to think that one day we will all browse through our photos in the same way. 

It kind of works like the Microsoft Surface, except that there is no Surface.  So what would you call it, the Air?  Be sure to see the video of this new technology in action after the jump, because this guy also does this weird trick of drawing with light that you will also need to see to believe. 

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Looks like our friends in Redmond, Washington are at it again with the globular display simply known as the Sphere.  The Sphere is like Microsoft’s Surface, literally taken to the next dimension. 

It was developed by Global Imagination, and customized by Microsoft.  It is expected to make its first public experience today at Microsoft’s Faculty Summit, but the Seattle PI was given a first look.  I have included a YouTube video of a spokesman demonstrating its features below. 

One of these features is a photo viewer that allows some interesting dragging capabilities.  In fact, if the user puts his or her hand on the photo, it will be instantly transported to the other side of the big silver ball. 

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Panasonic made quite a splash at CES last January when it introduced the largest flat screen display at 150-inches. It appears that Panasonic is thinking big screen once again, and has added the power of touch. 

Introducing the Digital Wall, a touch screen display that is so large that it covers the entire wall by design. Windows on the Digital Wall are accessed on the giant touchscreen with your fingers. It works like a Surface, but is not confined to a coffee table. 

Panasonic is in development with this product, but the latest word is that the Digital Wall could be cheaper than the Surface. I wish I had more details on that. 

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Some of you might remember back when Disneyland had their “House of the Future”.  I’m guessing it was located in Tomorrowland, and it featured such futuristic advances like speakerphones, big screen TVs, and microwave ovens.  Most homes of the present have these devices now, but during the ten year period that the exhibit was open (1957-1967), this was the future. 

Disneyland has just recently opened their new house of the future, otherwise known as the Innovative Dream Home.  The 5,000-square-foot house has been built as a collaborated effort with HP, Microsoft, and LifeІware.  Visitors can watch the everyday adventures of the fictional Elias family with their more modern advancements. 

Some of Microsoft’s contributions include the ever-so-popular Surface, the Home Server, but it also has some advancements we are all familiar with, such as Vista, the Zune, and even the Xbox 360. 

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Bringing the hands on Microsoft Surface coverage to a close, we have the final set which consists of three videos. The first in this group, shows off just a little bit of the movement on the Surface top with the scrolling from side to side and choosing (or launching) the app you want. The remaining two then offer a little but of a behind the scenes look as to how the Surface tracks objects on the table.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed both the images and videos, I also wanted to send a quick thanks to the Microsoft Surface team members for taking time out of their busy schedules to spend some time with us bloggers. I can honestly say that the Surface, while I thought it was neat before, is now something that I cannot wait to get into the home. And don’t forget to check out the previous posts in this hands-on series. 

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Next up we have a set of three videos, each short and sweet, but still offering a nice glimpse of the Surface and its functionality. The first video up offers a quick look at the water-like screensaver that will ripple as you touch it, offering a realistic look that you almost think your hand will get wet when you touch the table top. After that we have a short video of the Paint application and following up last is a quick video of the AT&T interface and some of the cool ways you can manipulate the view.

There are also a few final videos to come later in the day. And don’t forget to check out the previous posts in this hands-on series.

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Next up in the series of Microsoft Surface hands on videos shows off a little about how the team handles user testing. They demonstrate some unique methods for showing just how they make it clear what is hard and what is easy to do, based on the person (user) doing the testing. Overall it may not be an entirely unique process, but it is, albeit a simple system, much nicer than using an “easy-to-hard” scale such as 1 through 5 or 1 through 10.

There are also still several more videos to come over the next couple of days. And don’t forget to check out the previous posts in this hands-on series. Keep reading to check out the video below for a better understanding…

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