Microsoft has canceled their internal Courier project, according to sources close with the project. Gizmodo reports that CEO Steve Ballmer put the brakes on the project this past Wedensday.
The innovative new tablet concept gained internet fame through its dual screen book design which combined both finger and stylus input. The leaked promotional materials demonstrated various new concepts that would have brought an unparalleled productivity tool to the market.
According to our own sources the project was always based on Microsoft Research and reached a concept stage but Microsoft was never planning to create the device. Frank Shaw, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Communications stated the following over the cancellation:
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.