Microsoft's dual-screen tablet was first uncovered by Gizmodo back in September of last year. Packing two 7-inch (ish) displays that were connected by a hinge, the device incorporated a mix of capacitive and resistive touch. In an odd move for a company who has yet to confirm a product, or even comment on reports regarding the product, Microsoft kind of confirmed the Courier in a job posting that mentioned the device by name and linked to an article on Engadget which contained what it claimed were exclusive pictures and videos of the product. The posting was soon edited but not soon enough.
MSFT job listing (prior to editing): "Do you already know everything about Project Natal and the Cloud? Is Blaise Aguera y Arcas' jaw-dropping TED talk on augmented-reality Bing Maps and Photosynth last month's news? Then check out some of the online chatter surrounding new releases of Window Phone 7 series handsets, Internet Explorer 9 and the upcoming Courier digital journal."
While some would see this as a clear confirmation that the Courier is real and on the way, it looks like we may never see the dual-screen tablet. Gizmodo cites sources familiar with the matter who say Microsoft execs informed the internal team that had been working on the tablet device that the project would no longer be supported.
When contacted by Giz, Microsoft's Corporate VP of Communications Frank Shaw had the following statement:
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.
Though the Courier had never been mentioned by Microsoft in public (the above slip up aside), a lot of people will be disappointed that this project has been scrapped.
