Microsoft announces acquisition of multitouch display company Perceptive Pixel

Acquisition suggests a solid business focus for Microsoft's tablet strategy, as it pulls in workplace touch technology

Microsoft has announced the acquisition of Perceptive Pixel, a company specialising in multitouch display solutions in broadcast, government, defence and higher education, among other sectors.

Microsoft used its Wordwide Partner Conference 2012 in Toronto today to put on a bombastic demonstration of the technology using a 82in touchscreen and a Windows 8 Metro interface.

After the demo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer admitted that the colossal touchscreen may "just be a very big Windows 8 tablet, but it still makes you ‘ooh and aah'".

On a more serious note, Ballmer explained how the mulitouch and pen-equipped giant interface could prove "fairly revolutionary" to business, remarking how effective it would be to "cover these large surfaces in a room where some people are remote, some are present, where everybody has a Windows 8 tablet, where you can share and roam, and get content automatically replicated to other machines".

Revealing he'd had a similar device in his office for the past few months, Ballmer told the conference how it will "change the way you work dramatically".

The challenge for Microsoft, stated Ballmer, is to "make that technology more affordable and mainstream".

Baller remarked that "Moore's law is going to bring the prices down" to within the reach of businesses and educational establishments, but that Microsoft had to work on "accessibility".

Echoing earlier comments about Microsoft's OEM relationships, Ballmer said that Microsoft's combination of Windows 8 and its new touchscreen acquisition "will open up opportunities for all our partners to work on game-changing solutions".

As if any doubt remained, it now appears that Microsoft is quite squarely setting its sights on the business – and apparently education – end of the market, which Apple has previously ignored or paid only lip service to.

However, a big touchscreen is, at the end of the day, just a big touchscreen, and the efficacy of Windows 8 and its associated office-based extensions still remains the deciding fulcrum on which Microsoft's future rests.

The minor, but interesting announcement today of an "open" version of Office 365 certainly sets up some potential for third party solutions to be bolted on to, and marketed with, Microsoft's existing platforms.