Microsoft is Thinking Big – Acquires Large Sized Tablet Developer Perceptive Pixel

By: Kuljit Grewal  |   July 20th, 2012   |   Business, Gadgets, News, Tablets

It has been an incredibly busy month for Microsoft. The Brand That Bill Built not only announced their new operating system and platform Windows 8, but they also introduced the spectacular Microsoft Surface tablet PC to well-deserved fan fair.

 

Although that would have represented a good streak for most, Steve Ballmer and his team had one more bit of news to share. At the Worldwide Partner Conference held in Toronto Ballmer announced the acquisition of Perceptive Pixel in his keynote speech.

 

Pixel manufactures large screens with multi-touch technology. That type of knowledge could be extremely valuable for a company trying to create iPad beating tablets.

 

Pixel is somewhat of a touchscreen pioneer, having established themselves in 2006, well before Apple made it explode in 2007 with the first generation iPhone. Their tablets have been used by many, including CNN and Microsoft themselves at various presentations in Toronto.

 

 

According to this great piece at ReadWriteWeb, the technology is similar in nature and function to Apple’s barring one interesting difference. Perceptive Pixel has mastered active pen integration; in order words the ability to translate the amount of force applied on a screen to thicken and track lines while writing. Such technology is ideal for signature rendition as well as a plethora of writing-related tasks and functions. Imagine being able to use the touchscreen as a legitimate notepad?

 

Although Apple is still king of the tablet castle, this type of writing technology eludes their current multi-touch screens. According to the same piece, Pixel’s technology is quite scalable over a wide range of screen sizes. It can already be integrated into 27 inch displays and would require tweaking that should not be too difficult.

 

We are excited to see Microsoft re-inventing themselves with what looks like an impressive combination of both software and hardware. TQ looks forward to keeping you all up to speed with everything we learn about the evolving tech giant.