Microsoft unveiled their new 'Surface' multi-touch computer. A 30in touch screen monitor is mounted into a table top to give you that $10,000 coffee table you always wanted for your living room. The articles I read don't say much about how the screen actually functions, but it is said that the screen sits below an acrylic surface - 5 cameras are also mounted below the surface of the table to sense nearby objects. It's the acrylic surface that really brings to mind Jeff Han's multi-touch display. The method used in the presentation -- showing off paint and photo manipulation abilities of the interface by starting with one finger and then spreading all five fingers across the screen (each finger carrying it's own thread from the display) sounds like it is straight from Jeff Han at TED.

Microsoft has this interesting page on facets. This is an approach to modeling on grouping data sets. Their method of grouping permits viewing multiple types of metadata at once, allowing a user to see several hierarchical structures simultaneously.