Courier Tablet Sidelined, Says Microsoft

By JACK PHILLIPS
Epoch Times Staff

Courier, a tablet project that was being developed by Microsoft to potentially compete with Apple』s iPad was sidelined, according to an official Microsoft blog post.

Though it was never officially announced that the Courier tablet was being developed, speculators thought the device could give the iPad a run for its money, and lower the iPad』s cost due to competition.

Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Communications Frank Shaw posted the bombshell on a blog after there had been a 「ton of speculation」 about the device.

「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,」 said Shaw.

The prototype had two seven-inch folding screens, WiFi, a camera, and had both a touch and pen interface, according to Gizmodo.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Courier tablet was being developed by Alchemy Ventures, a new technologies lab at Microsoft. Microsoft told the lab to halt development.

「[Courier] will be evaluated for use in future offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time,」 said Shaw in the statement.

Last week, the new 3G version of the iPad was released in the U.S.