Maybe it’s the Courier part two, a new member of the Surface family, or the long-rumored Surface phone, but whatever is being shown in a recently discovered patent filing by Microsoft looks pretty interesting.
Like Tapose, which made its debut on the iPad yesterday, Paper is a place to store ideas. But unlike the former—which is backed by former Microsoft honcho J. Allard—the latter is more sketchbook than scrapbook, and comes from a group of individuals who once worked on the now-defunct Courier project.
Unlike every tablet that looks like every other tablet that looks like an iPad, Microsoft's Courier was bold, imaginative and different. Of course, it got killed and was never released. But the spirit is still alive! The Courier's dual pane versatility lives on with Tapose.
Cnet is delving further into the death of the Microsoft Courier, looking at the differences between Steven Sinoksky and J Allard, who ran the Windows 8 and Courier projects respectively. They say that Sinofsky's business-minded pragmatism and Windows 7 salvage job ultimately swayed Ballmer to follow his vision.
The Microsoft Courier died an unfortunate death, which was somewhat shrouded in mystery. Now Cnet has the full story, which chalks it up to bureaucracy, a fear of losing its corporate customer base, and an unyielding loyalty to established brands like Windows.
So much news passes before our collective eyes every day that we couldn't possibly cover it all. Mostly because much of it isn't worth covering! But here are a some borderline tidbits we passed on, just in case.
Microsoft has finally gone and offed Pioneer Studios, the operation that was behind the now dead, and still awesome, Courier tablet.
Few e-readers are as intimate as this prototype from Nicholas Chen. Look how they communicate in that video! The only caveat it's backed by Microsoft Research. We all know what happened the last time they teased something like this.
As more details come to light about bin Laden's life of the past few years, we're learning how the leader of Al-Qaeda communicated to his underlings through e-mail—even though he didn't have an internet connection in his compound.
Bin Laden was hiding out in a million-dollar compound with all the security in the world, but ultimately when his house-mate/courier Sheikh Abu Ahmed picked up the phone, the US military knew they had their man.
There's a Kickstarter project that's inspired from the promise of the ill-fated Microsoft Courier and delivers a similar "two-panel" experience to the iPad. Interested? Yeah, us too. It's called Taposé and it comes with an adjustable split screen interface that's supposed to let you "interact with multiple apps…
These are the stories you couldn't find anywhere else. From Apple's security slips to Facebook's prolific profile breach, check out Gizmodo's best Exclusives from 2010.
The most thrilling Microsoft product in years was killed before it ever officially existed. One of its most awesome services elicits more snickers than nods. Microsoft isn't even in the mobile space right now. Redmond, we have a problem.
If you're frequently uploading videos and photos to Flickr, YouTUbe, Vimeo, Twitpic or Facebook, you know that it's slightly annoying to have to log into each service, search your files and go through their uploader. Courier solves all this for you.
First, Microsoft's tablet hopes and dreams hinged on the HP Slate. That died. At least there were still rumors of the Courier dual-screen tablet! Until, well. But according to Microsoft honcho Steve Ballmer, there are Windows 7 tablets aplenty coming.
When Microsoft killed Courier dead, they promised that "it will be evaluated for use in future offerings." One of those innovations appears to have been the iBooks-like "virtual page turn," which Microsoft applied to patent in January of 2009.
The first details of Microsoft's dual-screen Courier tablet sent everyone into a tizzy. Then Microsoft proclaimed Courier dead before ever officially acknowledging its existence. But wait: is this email from CEO Steve Ballmer reason enough to hope for Courier's future?
Microsoft may have canceled their lovable Courier project, but Sony's patent application for a dual-screened "Electronic Book With Enhanced Features" may pick up where Microsoft left off.
The WSJ solidifies an intriguing post by Mary Jo Foley last week that J. Allard, the guy behind the Xbox, Zune and Courier—or more formally, the Chief Experience Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft's E&D division—is leaving after Steve Ballmer killed the Courier tablet project.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Microsoft has cancelled Courier, the folding, two-screen prototype tablet that was first uncovered by Gizmodo.
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