Microsoft's new 'Courier' tablet/booklet mobile device

[sunnysidedown]

I've no idea what a 'cool-aid drinking Apple fanboy' is or why you're posting up this irrelevant nonsense on a thread about Microsoft's Courier.

it was a reply to your post cheeky chops!

what would you expect the price to be for this device? roughly?

 

[editor]

it was a reply to your post cheeky chops!

what would you expect the price to be for this device? roughly?

I've no idea, but possibly somewhere comparable with the more expensive iPads, with cheaper variants after.

 

[elbows]

A NY Times article (that I also mention in the ipad thread) has some stuff about the Courier, not a lot mind, facts will be elusive for some time to come I expect:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/technology/12slate.html

But Microsoft engineers have concerns about the battery power needed to keep the two screens going, these people said. And internally the company is struggling to identify the right market. At first the idea was to market the Courier for designers and architects, but lately the company is thinking of a broader market of consumers and so would include e-books, magazines and other media content on the device.

Microsoft engineers have talked about getting the Courier out by early 2011, though no firm decision has been made to sell the product.

 

[editor]

Catastrophe!
The Courier's a goner.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/29/microsoft-confirms-kills-courier-in-one-fell-swoop/

 

[Kanda]

Vapourware.

That's all that needs to be said.

Nah, it's too far down the line and there's been too many "leaked" videos for this to be vapourware.

The technology seems do-able, the concept looks sound and MSoft need something to hit back at the iPad with. And if they don't run with it someone else will, and I'm not bothered who makes it!

 

[Kanda]

HP Slate having issues too:http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/29/hewlett-packard-to-kill-windows-7-tablet-project/

Didn't someone have a bet on that one ^^

 

[themonkeyman]

Catastrophe!
The Courier's a goner.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/29/microsoft-confirms-kills-courier-in-one-fell-swoop/

bugger, was looking forward to this. I would have really used it a lot

 

[tarannau]

Blimey, there must be some face-eggage on here. Predictions of vapourware and fatal UI/who to market to flaws seem to have come true

Seems strange that everyone's letting Apple have a clear tilt at building up a big old lead in the tablet market.

 

[editor]

Like I said in that quote, "if they don't run with it someone else will, and I'm not bothered who makes it."

I've no interest in a walled garden iPad device that comes with no built in USB, no SD card slot, no ability to hook up external HDs and all the usual Apple restrictions, so I'm happy to wait for someone else to knock out a Courier-like device.

In the meantime I'll keep on using my netbook - and as for HP, I'd suggest that their acquisition of Palm may have a big impact on future slate products.

 

[Kanda]

Why are you bringing up iPad in a thread about the courier??

(You have a go at us bringing up Palm in Apple threads)

 

[stupid dogbot]

Now there's a surprise!

 

[editor]

Why are you bringing up iPad in a thread about the courier??

(You have a go at us bringing up Palm in Apple threads)

Try looking at the post above mine, trollboy.

 

[Kanda]

I expected you to pick him up on it tbh...

Not a troll, just a little joke.

 

[tarannau]

No fair you two. Plenty of mentions of Apple on p1 of this thread, including from the Ed.

Besides I mentioned the competitive situation briefly, not slagged off another alternative based on my often stated personal requirements (again). It's like groundhog day about no cut and paste on the iphone and a list of other assorted gripes.

 

[themonkeyman]

I've no interest in a walled garden iPad device that comes with no built in USB, no SD card slot, no ability to hook up external HDs and all the usual Apple restrictions, so I'm happy to wait for someone else to knock out a Courier-like device.

same here, it's a shame though, the concept was awesome

 

[elbows]

Its just not possible to make a 2-screen device of that sort at a price-point that even vaguely fits the market at this stage.

 

[elbows]

This news may be even bigger:

Hewlett-Packard has killed off its much ballyhooed Windows 7 tablet computer, says a source who’s been briefed on the matter.

The device was first unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at CES 2010 in January and was supposed to hit the market in mid 2010. But our source tells us that HP is not satisfied with Windows 7 as a tablet operating system and has terminated the project (something CrunchGear mentioned months ago).

HP may also be abandoning Intel-based hardware for its slate lineup simply because it’s too power hungry. That would also rule out Windows 7 as an operating system.

Read more: http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/29/hewlett-packard-to-kill-windows-7-tablet-project/#ixzz0mZhCr5eO

Not at all surprising from a technical point of view, and considering HP buying Palm they now have an alternative.

 

[Crispy]

Good. Windows is completely unsuitable for a tablet. WebOS is a much much better fit.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Lame...

 

[skyscraper101]

Shame

 

[elbows]

Shame

Nah, think of all the people who would have wasted their money on another genration of painful windows/intel tablets and then been let down.

Even for people that hate Apple, they have been useful in demonstrating that the world can do better with technologies that exist today.

 

[editor]

Good. Windows is completely unsuitable for a tablet. WebOS is a much much better fit.

Yep. webOS could be sensational on a tablet.

 

[skyscraper101]

Nah, think of all the people who would have wasted their money on another genration of painful windows/intel tablets and then been let down.

Even for people that hate Apple, they have been useful in demonstrating that the world can do better with technologies that exist today.

Well maybe. I'm no Apple hater or Windows lover. I'd just like to see something that does a whole range of useful tasks, and something that preferably communicates with a PC/Mac seemlessly. Thats the thing with the iPad, I've no doubt its purposely designed to communicate smmothly with OSX, even if its not OSX itself. If Microsoft could do something which does similar with Windows then there'd be more of a direct comparison.

Perhaps Google will mimic Apple and create a pad device which emulates much of Andriod and synchs with your PC. I just can't see it taking off unless it successfully captures the business market for emails, documents and presentations, which is why I'd hoped the courier would happen.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

There's no difference between syncing the iPhone/Touch/Pad family with Windows and syncing it with OS X. Well, obviously it syncs to different calendar/address book/etc programs but that's it.

 

[elbows]

Yeah I dont quite get the syncing point either. The email, address book & calendar on OS X are not as feature-rich and enterprise-ready as Outlook. Support for Microsoft Exchange is generally what business needs on that front, and the iPhone already makes a reasonable job of that.

What exactly will Google do a better job of syncing with? Their approach is all about the cloud, they are more interested in getting people to use online software instead of ms office, eg Google Docs. Im not entirely sold on all the hype about the cloud, but things are certainly moving in that general direction, to what extent remains unclear.

I would expect that most tablet devices will get apps that enable office-compatible presentation software stuff.

 

[editor]

Well, no Courier like device has emerged yet (although the HTC Flyer sort of comes close) but I thought I'd revive this thread as I gave a talk a couple of days ago and ended up doing an 'after talk' with some people about technology/tablets and the like.

I showed them the promo for the doomed Courier and every one of them - including one or two iPad owners - said that it was *exactly* what they wanted and they'd gladly pay a fair premium for the device.

So on the remote chance any influential manufacturers are reading this - can we have a Courier-like device now please?

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Well said brother!

 

[editor]

The inside story of why Courier was scrapped is being released. Turns out it was in a fairly advanced state of development.

It still looks incredible today.

"We were on the cusp of something really big," said one Courier team member.
In late 2009, before the iPad had launched, the Courier team recognized the market for tablets was ready to explode. It laid out a detailed engineering schedule and made the case to Microsoft's top brass that Courier could be a revolutionary device that would define a new product category. The team put forward a vision that Microsoft could create a new market rather than chasing down a leader or defending an established product.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-2...y-of-how-microsoft-killed-its-courier-tablet/

And some pics to reminsice over:

And here's the videos for old time's sake:

 

[elbows]

Interesting. I still think that they would have had trouble getting the right balance of weight, battery, performance & price, especially given the 2 screens. And Im not convinced that the software side would have been completely fit for purpose either, at least not to start with. But the article suggests that it wasn't any of these things that killed it, it was Microsofts desire to stick to one kind of Windows OS, and to err on the side of protecting their Exchange & Office products. That Bill Gates originally thought the XBox should run windows says it all.

 

[editor]

It stil looks like a pretty damn exciting concept.