Microsoft Courier tablet prototype reminds us of Codex

The tablet arena seems to be getting about just as much hype as the netbook market was getting when the first ones were being showed off. This time though, Microsoft is interested in a bit more than just the software side of things. Gizmodo got its hands on Courier, quickly called it "Microsoft's astonishing take on the tablet," and noted that the interfaced was "unlike anything we've seen before." Don't get too excited just yet. First we must remember that this is in the late prototype stage of development, but that still means prototype, no matter how you slice it. Microsoft is developing the user experience and showing design concepts to outside agencies, but at any time the device can still be axed.

Secondly, the device is in fact a booklet, not a tablet: it has two 7-inch screens that are both designed to be used with a stylus as well as hands. Think of it like a DS on its side, except both screens can be touched—multitouched in fact. The hinge that connects the two screens has a single home button and can be used to hold items you want move from one page to another. Various status icons, like wireless signal and battery life, are shown along the rim of one of the screens. There's also a 3MP VGA 4x zoom camera with flash on the back cover. Check out the video, branded by Microsoft's Pioneer Studios, for a closer look:

As we noted earlier this week when the Microsoft tablet rumors came back in full force, Chief Experience Officer J Allard is leading the Alchemy Ventures group that includes at least one exec from Microsoft Surface. We must remember that the group of engineering experts has more than just the Courier prototype in the works.

Codex

Now that we've covered everything we know so far on Courier, let's talk about Codex, the Microsoft Research project we first heard about in October 2008. At the time, the dual screen device had a moleskine-style knitted elastic strap to hold it securely shut, a loop for the pen, and a mesh pocket so you wouldn't lose small items you wanted to bring with you. It weighed just over two pounds.

Codex used InkSeine, a prototype inking application also developed for Microsoft Research and released in February 2008 for Tablet PC and UMPC devices. We covered InkSeine's infrequent updates once or twice, including in March 2009 when Microsoft improved the software's support for Windows 7. It's not clear if Courier runs some form of InkSeine, but we'd be surprised if it didn't.

The similarities between Codex and Courier are too striking to ignore. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is a big fan of tablets, so it's really not a huge surprise that development has been going on for so long. We bet Gates would be quite happy if some form of a Microsoft tablet saw the light of day; would you share his enthusiasm?