I’m glad to see so many people excited to get their Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface (“SUR40”) units delivered. SUR40 is reaching customers in over 20 countries right now, and some of the unboxing videos, like this one, have been really fun to watch. I’ve also seen that a few people have questions about when to use the Calibration Tool found on the desktop. Hopefully I can help clarify those questions:Calibration instructions are available in the Microsoft Surface 2.0 Administration Guide (located here). One of the most important things to note is that you should always have a proper calibration board when calibrating.If you try to calibrate without the board, you’ll likely mess up your touch input. If you’re curious like me, your instinct might be to double-click the “Calibration Tool” icon located on the desktop just to see what it does. My recommendation is to leave it alone unless you already have your calibration board and you really need to recalibrate your unit.The best thing to do if you are experiencing any kind of touch performance issues with your unit is to first run the Environmental Light Optimizer tool (instructions here) and see if there are any light sources that may be causing issues. Samsung also provides a Venue Readiness Guide (found here) that has recommendations on optimal lighting which can also help.Some customers have noted receiving SUR40 units without calibration boards. The good thing is that most units won’t need to be re-calibrated for at least 1,000 hours; as they come calibrated from the factory. Customers that haven’t yet received calibration boards should be getting them from Samsung in the days ahead – well ahead of most customers ever needing them.–James 

Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft® Surface® (“SUR40”) is at this year’s National Retail Federation (NRF) Conference where retailers are getting hands-on with a showcase of new solutions developed for the Microsoft Surface 2.0 platform. Swing by Javits Center Hall 1A17 to experience the Samsung SUR40 and see new, never-before seen, retail solutions from over 15 of our development partners.Samsung SUR40 is available for purchase through Samsung channel and reseller partners. This award winning product results from a Samsung-Microsoft collaboration delivering the unmatched Surface 2.0 experience with a thin Samsung 40” HD vision based touch PC. Its innovative design means retailers can choose horizontal and vertical deployments by simply attaching optional legs or a compatible VESA mount.Retailers and consumers demand technology that delivers visually dynamic information in an engaging way. Samsung is energizing the retail space with SUR40, creating an all new approach to customer engagement.Retail customers ready to roll out the Samsung SUR40Major consumer brands and technology partners are readying Samsung SUR40 to create engaging retail experiences, professional services, and marketing tools. Here are a few examples of how businesses convert their visions to reality with the Microsoft Surface 2.0 platform:FujifilmThe Fujifilm retail solution enables customers to easily create custom photo books using their own digital photos. It helps people take advantage of digital photo editing, guiding even the most inexperienced person step-by-step through the design and order process. The application encourages friends and families to gather around the SUR40 and collaboratively rediscover their photos. This solution will roll out in Australia, with plans for later global expansion.Industrial ColorThe GLOBALedit application for the Samsung SUR40 provides creative production teams with the missing piece in a fully digital work flow: the digital light table. GLOBALedit brings photo review and approval, image markups, layout creation, and real time creative review sessions to life by fully utilizing the collaborative capabilities of the Microsoft Surface 2.0 platform. The innovations provided by the GLOBALedit solution will satisfy the needs for efficiency and ever increasing demands on content delivery and communication.Le Métier de BeautéLe Métier de Beauté’s new solution creates true synergy between luxury products and the luxury counter experience. Neiman Marcus customers will have their first glimpse of Samsung SUR40 this February as it launches at select stores across the country.PepsiCo Beverages CanadaPepsiCo Beverages Canada will use Samsung SUR40 in upcoming consumer engagement programs. SUR40 will help deliver a revolutionary interactive consumer experience for the Pepsi brand. Innovative Pepsi applications designed for Microsoft Surface offer consumers an unforgetable experience.Availability and pricingSamsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface is currently available in 23 countries. Estimated Street Pricing (MAP) for U.S. customers starts at $8,400 USD for the device, and $9,049 USD for the device with matching stand. Pricing in other countries and/or regions may differ.For more information or to find out how to order, call 1-866-SAM-4BIZ or visit samsunglfd.com/solution/sur40.do

Hot on the heels of our recent Popular Science Award, we are pleased to announce that the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface has been selected as an International CES “Best of Innovations 2012” award winner. The awards recognize and honor outstanding design and engineering in cutting edge consumer electronics products across 32 product categories, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which is currently underway.Sponsored by Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®, the producer of the International CES, the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow has been recognizing achievements in product design and engineering since 1976. The “Best of Innovations” honor is awarded to the products with the highest judges’ scores and will be featured in the Innovations Design and Engineering Showcase at the 2012 International CES.Entries are judged based on the following criteria:Engineering qualities, based on technical specs and materials usedAesthetic and design qualitiesThe product’s intended use/function and user valueUnique/novel features that consumers would find attractiveHow the design and innovation of the product compares to other products in the marketplace.If you are attending CES this year, please be sure to stop by and check out the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface at the Innovations Showcase in the Venetian Ballroom at the Venetian Hotel.For more information about the “Best of Innovations 2012” award winners including the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface, and the full press release, please visit the CES website at www.CESweb.org/Innovations, which lists product categories, as well as each product name, manufacturer information, designer, description, photo and URL.

Today we are excited to announce that the next generation of Surface, the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface, is now available for pre-order through Samsung resellers in 23 countries worldwide, including the United States. Automotive, education, finance, healthcare, hospitality, and retail are just some of the industries that will soon be able to take advantage of Samsung SUR40’s PixelSense technology, new, sleeker form factor and horizontal and vertical orientation options. Many new and existing customers, such as Dassault Aviation, Fujifilm Corp. and Royal Bank of Canada, have big plans for the Samsung SUR40 and are preparing to deploy units in locations early next year.Countries eligible to pre-order the Samsung SUR40 include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Stay tuned for product availability in additional markets coming soon. Check out Microsoft News Center for more information about the pre-order announcement. For details on how to pre-order the product, please visit the Samsung website at www.samsunglfd.com/solution/sur40.do

Recognized as “a thin tabletop computer that sees and responds to whatever is placed on it” the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface has been awarded an esteemed “Best of What’s New” Award for 2011 from Popular Science magazine. “For 24 years, Popular Science has honored the innovations that surprise and amaze us − those that make a positive impact on our world today and challenge our views of what’s possible in the future,” said Mark Jannot, Editor-in-Chief of Popular Science. “The Best of What’s New Award is the magazine’s top honor, and the 100 winners − chosen from among thousands of entrants − represent the highest level of achievement in their fields.”Each year, the editors of Popular Science review thousands of products, in search of the top 100 tech innovations of the year; breakthrough products and technologies that represent a significant leaps in their categories.Popular Science praises the Samsung SUR40 for its object recognition and content possibilities stating that “developers are free to program custom games and more.” Though not explicitly noted by Popular Science, the Samsung SUR40 is available for commercial purchase only.For more information about the “Best of What’s New” award and full press release, visit the Popular Science website at popsci.com

From search-and-rescue robots to social media streaming, Microsoft Surface continues to make a big splash for customers, partners and talented developers worldwide! Check out what Microsoft Surface has been up to lately....(read more)

Dr. Neil Roodyn (nsquared), one of our MVPs, just posted a video showing integration between multiple devices and Microsoft Surface. I personally liked some of the scenarios he describes, and how interactive objects (in this case phones and tablets) are...(read more)

As I mentioned last week, today is the big day! Today we are releasing the Microsoft Surface SDK and related resources. Below are the links to the development resources we promised. Microsoft® Surface® 2.0 SDK and Runtime " href...(read more)

Today I’m excited to share with you resources that should improve our partner’s ability to design and develop Surface Applications to support the next generation device – the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface. We are going to launch...(read more)

Bart Roozendaal is one of the members of our thriving Dutch Microsoft Surface community, CEO of Sevensteps , and a Surface MVP .  When Bart was in Redmond for the Microsoft MVP Summit, he stopped by our studio to show me a couple of the applications...(read more)

There are some great combinations in life. Peanut butter and chocolate. Ernie and Burt. Bacon and Maple Bars. That last one might be a bit polarizing. Here’s one I think we might agree on. Dr. Holly Yanco over at UMass Lowell’s Robotics Lab tipped me...(read more)