Microsoft working on a secret tablet named Courier
While everyone and their brother has been obsessing over the rumors of an upcoming Apple tablet, that may not even exist, it seems that Microsoft has gone one further and actually has a new tablet computer in the late stages of prototyping.
Rumors have circulated non-stop for months now that Apple had a top secret tablet computer in the works. No hard evidence of this device has surfaced as of yet, but that hasn’t stopped everyone from obsessing over it and how it would impact the consumer electronics market. Well, it seems while all of our attention has been directed at Cupertino, CA, where Apple is based, our real attention should have been towards Microsoft’s home offices in Redmond, WA.
The folks over at Gizmodo have uncovered all sorts of details about this new device, including a ton of photos and a video of how the system works, and it is about the most un-Microsoft product we have ever seen. The device opens up like a day planner or Moleskine to reveal two 7-inch touchscreens. Using a combination of a stylus and finger gestures you can control the user interface to do a multitude of things from taking notes to browsing the Web. In the spine of the book is an iPhone-esque home button which appears to be the only physical control on the device. There is also a camera on the back panel of one of the two halves for taking pictures on the go.
Wireless connectivity is included with the device, but it is unclear if it is a cellular or Wi-Fi solution.
This may very well be the home run Microsoft has been looking for as of late. The video alone was enough to make me start drooling all over it, but we have no clue as to release date, pricing or anything else at this point. With its dual screen format, if this device ends up coming with an ebook mode, we may very well be seeing a game-changing device here. It would just be nice to have some more evidence that this thing is a reality and not something that is a cooked up hoax. (and let me make it clear that I am not thinking Gizmodo would do such a thing, but possibly their source on the info or further down the line).
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