The first to throw their proverbial hat in the ring was Microsoft. Yes, Microsoft. The giant of yesteryear didn’t even bother to try to test the tablet computing market. Perhaps they were hesitant to go another round in the tablet computing fight. Microsoft very famously tried to lead tablet computing early in the 2000’s. At the time technology, and the market as a whole, was not ready for what Microsoft had to offer. This time around Microsoft’s offering was the much rumored Courier device. The Courier prototypes featured a twin touchscreen interface that opened and closed like a hard shelled book. Running an inventive user interface on a specialized version of the Windows CE/Zune operating system, the Courier device actually generated a lot of buzz and interest. It might have actually been competitive with the iPad. Only time will tell why Microsoft put one of its most revolutionary products in 10 years on the shelf.

The second to bow out of the race was HP. Their Slate device ran Windows 7 on a 9 inch touchscreen tablet interface. It was reported to include a 3 megapixel camera, SD card support, GPS, and 1080p playback. Another interesting project, it would seem HP just wasn’t willing to go into the tablet market when it wasn’t assured success against the iPad. It’s unfortunate they weren’t willing even make a limited run at the market and provide Windows users a modestly viable alternative to the iPad. Given the run away success of the iPad, it is understandable. It’s also understandable seen through the lense of the Palm acquisition. Perhaps HP’s plan is to move forward with WebOS instead of Windows. Or to move more into the smartphone space. Either way, its another iPad competitor that bowed out without even trying.

So what does that leave? Undoubtedly Google will bring either a company-branded tablet or one developed in conjunction with a hardware manufacturer like they did with HTC and the Nexus One. At this point, Android seems to be the only willing and viable competition to Apple and their iPhone OS powered device. The fractured nature of Android may cause some missteps along the way but it will be interesting to see if Google’s operating system (and let’s be honest it is Google’s operating system) becomes any sort of threat to the iPad.

What do you think? Will any company provide competition to the iPad? Did Apple start out so far ahead that no one will catch up? Leave us your comments and let us know.

The Courier is not real. And it never will be. It was a moment for me personally similar to the one when I learned in the game Portal that “The Cake is a Lie”!

If you remember a while back many of us were excited by User Interface concept videos for the Courier Tablet, and what was supposed to be Microsoft’s unique take on that category of device.

Engadget followed up on those initial videos a few weeks later and confirmed that the device was real, and proceeded to flesh the story out for us all with more details, which hinted very strongly at a real device in the pipeline.

We reported on that here: [touchreviews]

And I had this to say at the time :

If, and this is a big if. But if Microsoft can produce this device so that it looks as good as the pictures we have seen to date. And if the User Interface has the functionality detailed in those concept videos, then the Courier is going to be truly remarkable. And I will camp outside a store or travel half way round the world to buy one on day one. And I’ll want to develop for it too.

I am not convinced that this device will be all that the videos and pictures promise. It just seems too good to be true. But if it is then I think we could see a massive shift in power in the mobile market place.

Well it was “too good to be true”. In fact it’s worse that that.. Microsoft had this to say today :

At any given time, across any of our business groups, there are new ideas being investigated, tested, and incubated. It’s in Microsoft’s DNA to continually develop and incubate new technologies to foster productivity and creativity. The ‘Courier’ project is an example of this type of effort and its technologies will be evaluated for use in future Microsoft offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time.

So that’s it. Probably the best looking stab that any manufacturer has taken at a tablet to date is not going to happen. Perhaps the Courier was not the most well thought out device in its physical form overall. But in its User Interface and conceptual design it was groundbreaking in many ways, and any possible issues it may have had with folding I am sure could have been worked out. Especially if its size was to be around that which Engadget predicted.

HP also cancelled their Windows 7 tablet yesterday after having purchased Palm and webOS.

So with HP grabbing Palm, perhaps recognising where webOS might take them in the tablet arena, and then clearly deciding they need to play catchup to Apple, who are apparently years ahead of everyone else with the iPad. Microsoft have cancelled their remaining tablet project a day after HP killed their only other upcoming Tablet product of any import. A Tablet that Steve Ballmer proudly announced on stage at CES earlier this year.

I have to wonder who makes the important decision at Microsoft these days!

Are you disappointed that Microsoft will not make the Courier? Let us know in the comments.

Microsoft’s Courier tablet was first mentioned on tech sites a couple of months ago. At the time it was only a concept which existed in the form of a kind of User Interface showcase with cartoon hands controlling a virtual device. But those concept videos were rather impressive and very forward thinking. Of the many UI features that impressed me one really stuck in my mind. It was perhaps the simplest of them all, but it struck me as really nifty. When you want to transfer a picture or note to the clipboard you just slide it to the hinge of the device and it sticks there partly exposed on both screens. You can then flip through pages until you find the one you want. Once there you slide the clipping out onto either screen and paste it. Simple, but so cool I wanted one just so I could try it!

The User Interface of the Courier overall had the same shock and awe effect on me that the iPhone’s did when I first saw it. Before that OS X blew me away similarly.

Because at that stage the Courier was a concept no-one had any idea of the dimensions of the device. Or how much of the hardware was actually real. Or even how close to reality the incredibly impressive conceptual GUI of this thing was. All we did know was that the Courier had two screens, and opened like a traditional book with a hinge in the middle. It also supposedly had a pen, although the UI videos showed both multitouch with fingers and the pen being used. Oh, and it had a camera if the concept videos were accurate. We get to see it taking shots with that, and those snaps being filed away in a scrap book, edited and collated, and used as part of a presentation.

My initial reaction to the hinged device idea was that I wondered how people were going to actually use a device on the move which folded in the middle. How would it stay open on your lap? How would you type, draw or work with it when also having to hold it. Would the hinge be floppy or stiff? It was all the same kind of concerns that people had about how Apple’s take on a Tablet would work for typing and viewing movies etc. But I loved some of the ideas that were being explored with the Courier. Part of the reason that I worried about the folding design was that I envisioned it being around the size of a legal note pad when folded shut. So around the size of a magazine. I am not sure why, but that was my impression. My mind was stuck with the idea of a traditional tablet sized device or something about the size of the iPad, I guess.

Looking at the concept videos again it is fairly clear that this thing is not actually that big. Indeed, pictures that Engadget have today show the device (or at least a mockup) in human hands, and as being much closer to the size of a traditional paperback. For some reason this has made a massive impression on me. Engadet’s information on the device is here.

The videos (which have been around for a while now) are further down the same page. Make sure you watch them. They are obviously not real. By that I mean they are not running on a real device. But there is no reason in this day and age that a User Interface could not do all the things we are seeing there. And if Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 7 interface is anything to go by then the general look and feel all fits. Again though, all we’ve seen of that is flashy web sites and conceptsÉ so far.

Engadget have this to say: “Courier will function as a “digital journal,” and it’s designed to be seriously portable: it’s under an inch thick, weighs a little over a pound, and isn’t much bigger than a 5×7 photo when closed. That’s a lot smaller than we expected.” With reference to that last sentence: Join the club guys!

If, and this is a big if. But if Microsoft can produce this device so that it looks as good as the pictures we have seen to date. And if the User Interface has the functionality detailed in those concept videos, then the Courier is going to be truly remarkable. And I will camp outside a store or travel half way round the world to buy one on day one. And I’ll want to develop for it too.

I am not convinced that this device will be all that the videos and pictures promise. It just seems too good to be true. But if it is then I think we could see a massive shift in power in the mobile market place.

Microsoft could really be making a rather incredible device that people simply must have.

What do you think about the Courier? Is it the iPad slayer or is it promising too much and will it underwhelm in real life?

By: Stephen Northcott

Microsoft’s Courier: Videos of the interface in action

Images and Video Credit: Engadget