More speculation continues regarding the development of the next xbox system. Reports are circulating that suggest that Microsoft is working with Samsung to develop the new Surface 2.0.

What does that mean for us? Well, if you are not familiar, Surface was shown originally at CES in 2007 which was the big tabletop touch screen that reacted with led diodes to actually see what is on top of the table. So this technology currently can get pretty pricey ringing in at over $8000. This technology could be “dumbed down” a bit to help with making it more accessible for home console use. Originally this piece of equipment was designed for hospitals and other businesses.  For example, the Royal Bank of Canada uses it as a kiosk for its customers to give them information about their products and also incorporates banking help such as being able to deposit checks and viewing available account balances.

The new Surface 2.0 which was shown at CES 2011 updates the previous version and also gives it a more rugged case and now you will be able to hang it vertically instead of having it on a table top. Check out the video below to see what it does.

So lets just speculate about this for a second. The WiiU is bringing a touch tablet to work with the new system. Hrm, Microsoft, after seeing how well the original Wii control scheme did, came up with Kinect a few years later. Is it possible that they are also trying to perfect their version on “One-upping” Nintendo by perhaps adding this touch tabletop to work with their next generation Xbox system? I guess we will find out in a few months.