With Microsoft’s plans to acquire Perceptive Pixel Inc. Can we expect huge touch screens in the future?

Seems like it is a season of acquisitions for the big companies! Microsoft has jumped in to the market of acquisitions yet again this year. Microsoft Corp. is adding another company to their ever-expanding kitty. They are about to buy Perceptive Pixel Inc., (large touch-screen display producers). In 2006, Jeff Han (Perceptive Pixel’s founder) had demonstrated the multi-touch technology. In 2007, Perceptive Pixel shipped its large wall solutions and multi-touch workstations for the first time. It gained popularity when CNN used one of the screens as an interactive US map to cover the presidential elections in 2008.

The announcement did not include the acquisition’s terms and reasons. However, there have been a few contemplations on the reason. As the company owns PixelSense (a 40-inch multi-touch display) already, the giant hardware doesn’t seem to be the real target. It looks like Microsoft is aiming for the software of Perceptive Pixel.

Microsoft is planning on selling large screens of Perceptive Pixel which supports Microsoft’s latest Operating System, Windows 8. The 82-inch multi-touch screen is currently used by many customers including CNN (popular news broadcaster), Schlumberger Ltd. (oil-service provider), etc. According to Perceptive Pixel’s website, the screen can respond to stylus and hand movements at the same time. This helps the users in mimicking the real-world working environment. These screens are capable of being used by multiple users at once. The screen is already Windows 8 compatible and is going to be the main marketing tool for selling Windows 8 to big companies like schools and corporations.

Jeff Han has said that he wants more mainstream for his company’s biggest customers as the reason for the collaboration. He added that his team will join as part of Microsoft’s Office Division. The acquisition will likely close anytime now and Microsoft will try to bring down the prices of Perceptive. However, the exact price drop has not been disclosed. Microsoft’s General Manager, Giovanni Mezgec has said in an interview that Microsoft wants to make the screens mainstream. He added that Microsoft will do anything to bring down the cost and try binging out new forms to the market.

Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, Steve Ballamer has said that it is going to be a very huge Windows 8 tablet and the challenge lies in making the technology more affordable. With Microsoft seemingly trying their best to bring down the prices of these huge screens, one can expect huge touch screens in the future!

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