May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. will sell a coffee- table-shaped touch-controlled computer that can give product information to shoppers, provide directions to hotel guests, or display menus for restaurant diners.
Microsoft will manufacture the horizontal-screened machines itself, rather than using personal-computer makers. Buyers of the device include T-Mobile USA Inc., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Harrah's Entertainment Inc., said Microsoft General Manager Pete Thompson. The computer, called Microsoft Surface, will go on sale for $5,000 to $10,000 in November.
Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, is developing new forms of computers that are easier and more natural to control. The company expects such devices to become part of a multibillion-dollar industry sometime after 2010. Microsoft will probably release a consumer version of the Surface computer in three to five years, Thompson said.
The 30-inch display allows several people to use the table at once, for instance, to move and resize photos with their hands. Microsoft plans to tweak the design to accommodate each customer. The device can be made taller for in-store displays meant to be operated by standing customers.
T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest U.S. mobile-phone company, plans to use Surface to let store visitors get information on new phones and load content such as ring tones and games. In a sample program built by Microsoft, placing a mobile phone on the touch screen brought up details about the phone and allowed a user to page through service plans. Ring tones could be selected and delivered to the phone.
A similar demonstration for Harrah's, which operates casinos such as Caesars Palace and the Paris, let users place their Harrah's reward card on the screen and make purchases with the points on the card. Users could navigate a map of Harrah's Las Vegas properties and book restaurant reservations and show tickets.
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer will unveil the product today at the Wall Street Journal's D conference in Carlsbad, California.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at