Tag Archives: booklet

Microsoft Courier: UI tour, additional details in the rumor mill

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In addition to this revealing video picked up at Gizmodo, ZDNet’s Mary Jo-Foley reported on new speculation from a “more verifiable source” that sheds some more light on the still unannounced Microsoft Courier booklet device.  Her source claims that the Courier is currently running on top of the Windows 7 operating system.  However, the consumer will not be able to install Windows 7 apps on the device: Microsoft tablets of the past “failed because the applications were not tailored to a tablet form factor – that is, Word still had toolbars and menus and scollbars. So, a tablet needs to be like an iPhone – a UX that is specific for the form factor.”  The source mentions that the development team at Microsoft is creating this device like they did the Xbox video game console; Microsoft will handle the hardware and software so as to speed up the development process.  The source also says that the Courier is on track for a “mid-2010” release.

Very interesting tidbits of information, yes.  As Apple is currently in the process of manufacturing their own tablet, I am excited to see how all of this will play out.  Will it be the MS Courier vs. the Apple tablet in the near future?  Only time (and potential surfacing FCC filings) will tell.

[Via Gizmodo; ZDNet]

Microsoft Courier booklet device

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The awesome dudes at Gizmodo picked up this story earlier this week, and boy is it a fascinating one.  What was a big secret for Microsoft has now been reveiled to the public–a MS-hardware and software designed booklet.

Gizmodo has the details:

Until recently, it was a skunkworks project deep inside Microsoft, only known to the few engineers and executives working on it.

Courier is a real device, and we’ve heard that it’s in the “late prototype” stage of development. It’s not a tablet, it’s a booklet. The dual 7-inch (or so) screens are multitouch, and designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. They’re connected by a hinge that holds a single iPhone-esque home button. Statuses, like wireless signal and battery life, are displayed along the rim of one of the screens. On the back cover is a camera, and it might charge through an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre.

So, the MS Courier is in fact a real device, it packs two 7-inch multitouch displays and an integrated camera, and has a UI design that looks sleek, organized, and most importantly, simple.  For more on the UI, check out the video below for a quick tour of the Courier user interface, still in development.  One question: What’s with the stylus?  That’s so 1990s!

[Via Gizmodo]