Friday, 30 April 2010 19:04
Microsoft has halted development of a dual-screen tablet device that was touted as a potential rival to the iPad.
The Microsoft Courier had a folding book design, with two 7" touchscreens that could accept both multitouch finger inputs or text written with the supplied stylus.
The device was reportedly at the "late concept" stage, and the company had even produced demonstration videos showing how the device's interface might work.
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However, according to gadget site Gizmodo, Microsoft executives have pulled the plug on the product's development. In a statement sent to the site, Microsoft said: "At any given time, we're looking at new ideas, investigating, testing, incubating them. It's in our DNA to develop new form factors and natural user interfaces to foster productivity and creativity. The Courier project is an example of this type of effort. It will be evaluated for use in future offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time."
The cancellation appears to dent hopes that Microsoft was developing an operating system specifically for tablet devices. Windows 7 has built-in support for touchscreen devices, although it pales in comparison with touch-specific software such as the iPhone OS.
Other companies have already launched dual-screen eBook devices. The enTourage eDGe - which has has a 9.7" e-paper display on one side and a 10.1in LCD screen on the other - was one of the highlights of this January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Read more technology news at http://www.rte.ie/business/2010/0430/microsoft.html