Big Apps Table: iPhone Sees What's Beneath Microsoft's Surface

Scratch Microsoft's Surface and what do you find? More Surface. Or, more accurately, make an x-ray app on the iPhone, place said iPhone on said big a$$ table (YouTube link), and you find some pretty amazing looking technology.

Now the iPhone uses electricity and capacitance for its multi-touch, and the surface uses -- I believe -- infrared video cameras, so the interaction is all the more impressive. How are they exchanging data and coordinating image display, rotation, scaling, etc? Is the edge-detection and outlining beging done on the Surface side and transmitted, or crunched on the iPhone side? And are there any practical uses for this, other than ZOMG! cuil vidz!? (Though that's clearly enough for us!)

(Thanks to Phil from WMExperts for sending this our way!)

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.