Microsoft has killed its “Courier,” a Windows CE-based tablet that was to have featured dual screens and handwriting recognition, according to Gizmodo. Meanwhile, HP’s Windows 7-based Slate could also be shelved following that company’s acquisition of Palm, TechCrunch claims.
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The Courier was to have featured a Windows CE-based operating system — likely similar to the version on the Zune HD or Windows Phone 7 — running on an Nvidia Tegra SoC. The device’s dual multitouch screens would have allowed it to act as an e-reader and digital journal, with built-in handwriting recognition, according to multiple reports.
The device was first revealed in a Sept. 2009 Gizmodo posting, at which time it appeared to be interesting but likely nothing more than a design concept. Last March, however, rival tech blog Engadget cited an “extremely trusted source” as saying the Courier would go on sale during the second half of this year.
Microsoft’s Courier
Source: Engadget
Engadget — which published a gallery of official-looking images plus the video embedded later in this story — claimed the Courier would have a pen-based interface centered around drawing and writing. A related website would have allowed access to everything entered into the device in a blog-like format, added writer Nilay Patel.
Latter in March, Microsoft appeared to confirm the Courier’s existence via a posting on its JobsBlog recruiting page, which referred to the Courier as an upcoming product, and linked to earlier coverage on the Engadget website. As reported by All Things Digital’s Peter Kafka, mention of the Courier came in a posting touting “how Microsoft is again leading the industry in innovation.”
The JobsBlog posting is said to have read as follows:
Do you already know everything about Project Natal and the Cloud? Is Blaise Aguera y Arcas’ jaw-dropping TED talk on augmented-reality Bing Maps and Photosynth last month’s news? Then check out some of the online chatter surrounding new releases of Window [sic] Phone 7 series handsets, Internet Explorer 9, and the upcoming Courier digital journal.
Speculation about the Courier was also fueled by a Digitimes report earlier this month, staging that a dual-screen device fitting its description would be built for Toshiba by subcontractor Compal Electronics. Toshiba manufactured Microsoft’s original Zune music player, whose hardware was based on a Toshiba PMP (personal music player) known as the Gigabeat.
Now, however, the Courier is no more, according to a Gizmodo story that has reportedly been officially confirmed by Microsoft. “On Wednesday, Microsoft execs informed the internal team that had been working on the tablet device that the project would no longer be supported,” writes Joel Johnson.
Gizmodo contacted Microsoft for confirmation, and quotes Frank Shaw, a corporate vice president of communications, as saying:
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.
Microsoft provided no reason for killing the product, but a prime motivation could be a desire not to compete with its many customers who are already producing Windows-based tablets. It’s believed the dual-display design may have also caused excessive battery consumption and possible scratching as the device was transported.
What about HP’s Slate?
HP has been vigorously promoting a tablet device of its own, the Slate. Detailed in pictures and videos released by the company, plus a leaked document (below) reproduced by Engadget, the Slate is designed to compete with Apple’s iPad.
A presentation comparing HP’s Slate to Apple’s Ipad
(Click to enlarge)
Source: Engadget
According to this purported HP presentation, the Slate incorporates netbook-like hardware and software, including an Intel Atom Z530 processor clocked at 1.6GHz, 32GB or 64GB of flash storage, and Windows 7 Home Premium. It’s said the Slate will operate for only five hours on batteries, similar to or less than a variety of netbooks.
In the wake of HP’s announced intent to purchase Palm — whose Linux-based WebOS could be used to create ARM-powered tablets — the Slate might not pass muster any longer, or so a new posting on the Tech Crunch blog suggests. Quoting a “source who’s been briefed on the matter,” Michael Arrington says “HP has killed off its much ballyhooed Windows 7 tablet computer.”
A slide from HP’s presentation announcing the acquisition of Palm
(Click to enlarge)
Arrington, who claims to have helped develop the Linux-based “CrunchPad” tablet now being sold as the JooJoo, says “our source tells us that HP is not satisfied with Windows 7 as a tablet operating system.” The manufacturer may also be abandoning Intel-based hardware for its iPad competitor simply because it’s too power-hungry, he theorizes.
HP’s Slate
“We’ve reached out to HP for comment,” Arrington adds, but no official response appears to have been received. (Meanwhile, we’re wondering whatever happened to the old journalistic precept of requiring two sources for a story.)
