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The floor-plan for the upcoming Microsoft Research Faculty Summit 2008 shows a booth set aside for the intriguing project, and it was briefly listed on the schedule of presentations before being removed.

Quite

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what a spherical display could excel at is a mystery, although Google Earth has been suggested in the PC Pro office as a possibility.

Microsoft has backed the development of multitouch devices for some time, even going so far as to suggest that all surfaces could one day be coated with inexpensive screens.

Windows 7 will also feature the technology, and the company aims to release a 30in version of Surface for between $5,000 and $10,000.

However, Bill Gates has also suggested that voice recognition is the future of human-computer interaction, claiming that within five years more online searches will be conducted using voice technology than keyboards.