I saw this question and it got me interested as surface caused a big fuss when Microsoft first showcased it, I worked for Microsoft at the time and we had a few of them in the office but they were always surrounded by people. But snce then I have not heard or seen much of surface, so I have a few questions.
Is surface still considered a prototype product?
What sort of interface does it prodive for all the various devices, are there regular updates to identify new devices such as new phone models, or do phones have to be preconfigured with some sort of tag or id for surface to recognise it and provide an interface between them?
What is the security on surface like? Microsoft showcased it in public places such as Bars, with the fancy demo of putting your credit card on the table to pick up the tab.
Does Microsoft provide a emulated platform for developing on surface, any links guides would be great and is it .NET?
1) Microsoft Surface is not a prototype. It is released in a first version.
2) Inside the Microsoft Surface is a regular Winodws Vista computer with usb, wifi and ethernet connections. So basically anything you can do with a normal computer with these interfaces you can do on Microsoft Surface. Since Surface contains a Visual Recognition System with cameras it is posible to "see" what's placed upon the surface. You can then use visual tags to recognize objects.
3) Security is a big topic. The demo you saw used a tag behind the card to identify the user.
4) There is a Surface SDK with a simulator available and it's all .NET! Download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=3db8987b-47c8-46ca-aafb-9c3b36f43bcc&displaylang=en
Regards,
Björn Eriksen http://surfacedeveloper.blogspot.com