News Microsoft cans Courier

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2010/04/30/microsoft-cans-courier/1

 

Aww...

 

Looks like the HP slate has been axed as well:

http://gizmodo.com/5527824/hp-slate-is-dead-on-arrival-says-techcrunch

Clearing the decks for a webOS / Palm powered slate now that they've bought the company?

 

What the hell??? You're Joking Right? Since i remember to see the firts laptops to the masses in the early 90, i always wonder why they did not have 2 screens and one of the screens became a keyboard, and not just a keyboard. An adaptive keyboard, it could be anything you want in the context of the opened application. If you play a game the keys adapt to a simple controler, if you pop up an image editor you could have the tools in one screen and the image on the other. Many things i wonder back then. Some days ago i saw the news that Microsoft was going to make a divice like that, i was very happy. Now they aborted the project?

 

How are Gizmodo going to continue their checkbook journalism when they can't pay for stolen items because they are terminated well before they can purchase illegal goods and ruin developers lives by publicly humiliating them on the internet. Sad day.

 

i'm guessing they expect it to be a crowded and competitive area in the near future. There are other players...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/186286/msi_shows_dualscreen_7inch_and_10inch_netbooks.html

 

Ugh. Courier was the device that got me properly excited about tablets. That MSI one looks damn good, but they aren't marketing it themselves and are waiting for someone else to jump in.

Ah well.

 

great shame

 

The first device by Microsoft that ever actually looked interesting (well the concept looked awesome, they might of later messed that up) & MS decide to cancel it.

Great move!

 

OK, here goes: BWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Sorry, but told ya. When people were moaning that the iPad did not have a 'real' OS or CPU or sufficient features, and pointed at the HP Slate and MS Courier as an example of how it should be done, I argued that those devices were vapourware: simply not commercially viable in terms of production cost and technology (especially battery life).

Perhaps now HP has bought the Palm WebOS it may be able to produce something viable. Having played with a Palm Pre I can see how it would work. But the problem is that Apple is already way ahead of the curve and even with Flash support (which still needs its mobile kinks working out) competitors will never catch up. The iPad is already popular, so it will set the norm for mobile web pages. Just like the iPod did with docking devices. Too late, too late said the White Rabbit.

Apple may appear to make strange choices, but it would be arrogant to assume that a company that has been very successful lately, and hires some top end engineers and designers wouldn't have thought about these choices. Apple does have vision; those who can't see it perhaps prefer to keep their eyes tightly shut.

 

Do you know I was having a private bet with myself as to how long it would take for a Nexxo "I told you so" post to come along. I was actually expecting it about an hour earlier; guess you've been having a busy morning today and no time for a coffee break.

I'd recon the prototype showed the battery life to be mince, so it's been shelved till tech can support it. I didn't think the Courier was using a standard Os either though, wasn't it supposed to be a dedicated digital journal rather than running windows.

 

Who else read the thread title as Microsoft Sans Courier? I thought somewhere, someone working in typography had divided by zero.

 

Gutted by this. I would never have a use for such a device but I imagined this sort of thing being in every high school in the next 5 years or so. Makes so much sense going by what was shown. AH, had loads of potential instead of crappy tablets.

 

Yeah, I meant to do it earlier but it's tricky from an iPhone and I've indeed been busy (Bit-Tech is blocked at work. Honestly, how unreasonable!).

Don't get me wrong: I really like the Courier concept. But it will take at least another five to ten years for the tech to catch up. By then the iPad will be a neurally implanted device...

 

That some people will still have a hissy fit over it's lack of flash.

 

Oh that’s just what we need more ammunition for loonies to say that Job's is screwing with people’s heads.

 

Or maybe by then someone will have found an actual practical use for one

 

Well Mr Knowitall Nexxo, what about the MSI prototype, 6 hours and 7" running Win7 on a single cell batt?

Honestly though, if there's any better way to be a tit by saying "Ner ner ne ner ner", I haven't seen it yet.

 

I try not to be a tit, but that's what I am so that's how it comes out (at least I'm really good at it).

The problem with the MSI prototype, like the HP Slate, is that it's, like, a prototype. The iPad is a fully functional production model hitting the shops at a decent price point now.

If MSI can launch their baby, fully functional, at the same price point as the iPad I will give it my full attention. But I predict that if Microsoft could not make the Courier fly MSI won't get this to the market any time soon either.

 

I'm talking about the tech being there and ready, not the price point. If it were to get made tomorrow it'd certainly be more expensive than the iPad, no question, but it obviously works otherwise MSI wouldn't be flashing it around in the open.