You may already be asking yourself why. Well, for one, the Microsoft Courier actually exists and two, wait until you see what Microsoft has cooked up. Oh, and it’s not a Tablet but a booklet, but Apple’s Tablet is probably the closest thing to compare it to.
In fact, it definitely is, even though it’s not even out.
The Courier was leaked back in late September with a photo and some video, but really nothing substantial to ‘wow’ anybody and that was because no one knew how it was going to work. But first, let’s take a look at the specs that Gizmodo released:
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.
Pretty good, but nothing about how it actually worked, until now.
Gizmodo, once again, has released information that should get Apple a little worried, if of course the Tablet is a real thing. They have put up a ton of informative slides about the Courier’s UI that show pretty much blow you out of the water. And because there is so much info, let’s condense it a little bit.
Finger gestures are pretty intuitive on screen: tap and hold will clip content for you; a flick can turn pages or navigate vertically, pinches will zoom you out from the journal to the library. Pretty standard, could change.
Smart Agenda is basically the entire inner workings of the UI, in a sense, it’s the Courier’s home screen and it is a summary of things like emails and appointments and it looks awesome from the photo. It displays stuff from the Infinite Journal which is basically the soul of the Courier.
Think of it like a notebook for drawing, writing, keeping stuff and sharing, only it’s all digital.
A “cloud” feature allows people you collaborate with to leave you messages on shared information and you can also access your journal from web browsers.
Pretty cool thus far right?
The browser appears to be pretty standard but is described like this:
Courier's browser looks straightforward, though it uses an index-card metaphor to flip through your history, like a vertical version of Cover Flow. What makes it special is the power to easily clip content, like photos, to keep it in your journal.
Nice.
Get used to hearing about clip, tucking and pasting because it’s a big component of Courier. You can almost clip anything, which you then can tuck into the spine and paste on another page or section.
Maybe the coolest feature is the pen which can be twisted to act different and also has two buttons, one of which is undo, and the other allows you to jump between pen types fast. It also has an eraser and a full color palette.
The camera might rival it though, it looks pretty fantastic. And, last but not least, there is the Library, which stores your files and allows you to browse.
So as you can see, the Courier looks fantastic and really, it makes the Apple Tablet look silly, because well, it appears to be the real deal and has a lot of innovative things going for it. And it's upped the ante for the Tablet to make a real appearance.
Hopefully this thing materializes for Microsoft. It could even be used as an e-reader in the future.
The potential seems limitless.
Hopefully they don’t run into the same trouble Barnes and Noble did with the Nook.
Comments
Not to sound like a wet blanket, but there are two issues that come to mind with this machine, bloat from other windows o/s franchises and malicious code that all windows products seem to be affected with.
David, so insightful. Thanks for the comment!
How does this make the apple tablet look silly? Also how can you say this thing exists when all I've ever seen are videos rendered from 3d software. Where is the real product? I see microsoft getting scared of all of the apple tablet rumors and releasing this video to build some type of publicity before apple. I will believe it when it's not just concept and I can see real hardware work as well as the fake videos.
Yes, the intense competition between two products that don't yet exist. It's getting hot in the theoretical electronics market.
Can't wait for something to either come to market or let all the air out of this tablet huffing and puffing. It'll be nice to have some real news for a change.
Can we snow leopard on it?
There's something silly alright but it's not the yet to be in any way seen publicly, Apple Tablet. This article is a laugh a minute.
This is analogous to Microsoft announcing the release of the Xbox 1080, and Sony saying they have no plans for a PS6. Sony would look "silly."
"Oh, and it’s not a Tablet but a booklet, but Apple’s Tablet is probably the closest thing to compare it to." (You are comparing it to nothing then?) So, let me get this straight! You are comparing a product that is in development that may differ from the final product to a product that is more rumor than anything. Even if we acquiesced to the fact that their is an Apple Tablet. What are the specs? What does it look like? What are the features? Why not call it the iPad or the iTablet? Perhaps, the Newton (reinvented). I say this, because Apple hasn't even confirmed the name let alone the existence.
The Courier is nice for ebooks but it won't match the Apple iSlate on its mobility. Microsoft should stay in the software market were they have dominated for years and let Apple MAN-HANDLE the hardware industry like it has for the last few years. The Courier is going to end up like the Zune, nowhere!! www.islate.org
And in other news, the spaghetti monster would probably totally kick bigfoot's ass.
You guys at the Onion crack me up.... oh wait a minute...
Terry ought to take a speed reading course.
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