Gizmodo is reporting that the much hyped and well liked Microsoft Courier tablet PC project has been scrapped. The product was never officially announced, instead it made the rounds online in the form of several conceptual videos highlighting the device.
According to the Microsoft Corporate VP of Communications Frank Shaw:
At any given time, we’re looking at new ideas, investigating, testing, incubating them. It’s in our DNA to develop new form factors and natural user interfaces to foster productivity and creativity. The Courier project is an example of this type of effort. It will be evaluated for use in future offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time.
Stick a fork in it, the Courier has failed to launch. To the people holding out on iPads in hopes that the Courier was to be released in short order, it might be time to head down to your local Apple store and bite the bullet.
The Courier itself was a wonderful two-screened device that was to rethink the way that tablet computing is usually enacted, with a single slate-style screen. With two screens, the Courier was hoping to change the paradigm for touch computers.
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Microsoft has been pushing touch screen (tablet) computing for years to little effect in terms of market adoption. Whatever the future of touch computing at Microsoft, this is no longer part of it. Feel free to cry in the comments.
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