Is Microsoft’s Courier real?

Ever since www.gizmodo.com broke the story, the excitement and the scepticism is running high

Is Microsoft's Courier real?

Ever since www.gizmodo.com broke the story, the excitement and the scepticism is running high

When you are as big as Microsoft or Apple, you don't have to exactly scream yourself hoarse to make people pay attention. Quite the opposite, actually you have to keep a lot of your projects confidential to ensure that nobody leaks the data to journalists eager for a scoop, or Web sites that want to give away exclusive previews of your upcoming products.

While the Web has been discussing Apple's proposed Tablet in great detail, Gizmodo has posted pictures and a video of Microsoft's new and upcoming product, Courier. This product, as per the video and the photo, is not a tablet PC it is actually a device that has two screens and opens up like a book.

Gizmodo says that the dual 7" screens are multi-touch, and as the video shows, you can write on the screens, flip the text there like it was a real book, and even visit Web sites by writing the name of the site with the stylus. If this product is really true, one has to congratulate Microsoft for making it quite intuitive.

Of course, there is always room for improvement. The product is said to also feature a camera, and I don't think that anybody is going to be using such a bulky device to take shots. Maybe, the final version could come with a compact detachable camera that can transmit pictures wirelessly back to the Courier.

I don't believe it

While Gizmodo is claiming this as a major scoop, not everybody is buying these claims. Michael Hickins, in his blog on bnet.com, says that he is not sure if this is for real. '...I'm sceptical about its authenticity, in large part because Gizmodo (Paperboy) makes no effort to explain how it got a hold of the images or the video', he writes and goes on to point out that Gizmodo has been wrong in the past, especially with reference to the iPhone 3G.

And this is true of not just Gizmodo, but of anybody who goes after scoops until Microsoft announces the product and puts it on sale, one can never be sure if the product is truly there for you too buy. But right now, unfortunately, that is not happening because Microsoft is keeping mum. In fact, company spokesman Doug Free was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying that 'We do not comment on unreleased products'.
Too bad for you, bub, because everybody else is.

QUICK TAKE
>>Gizmodo has released details on Microsoft Courier
>>The product is almost like a book
>>Microsoft has refused to comment on this product

Is it the codex?
Emil Protalinski on arstechnica.com has compared the Courier with the Codex and even given a link to a blog on microsoft.com, which shows photos of the Codex. This photo is taken from an entry posted by Ken Hinckley on October 1, 2008 and shows a product that looks remarkably similar, concept-wise, to the Courier.

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