Microsoft has announced that it is launching its Surface tabletop computing system in markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Surface is responsive to natural hand gestures and objects that are placed on its display without requiring input from a keyboard or mouse, and was launched in the US and Canada in May 2007.
Now the system can be used by businesses in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries.
Making the announcement at the CeBIT trade show, Microsoft said that the launch meant its developer partner ecosystem for local content is also expanding to take into account the new markets.
Among the partners offering digital content for Surface is marketing agency Razorfish, which is creating applications for the automotive, financial services and telecommunications industries in Germany, Spain, France and the UK.
"Since our initial launch of Microsoft Surface, we've received an overwhelming response from companies worldwide that are looking for innovative ways to engage with their customers and developers who want to create applications that were not possible with other technologies," says Panos Panay, general manager of Microsoft Surface.
AT&T became the first company to use Surface in its retail stores last year. Sheraton Hotels & Resorts also launched the interface in certain of its US hotels last summer.
