Alleged leaked Microsoft tablet demo -- "Courier"

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

DO WANT TO BE REAL BUT CLEARLY ISN'T

More info
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eat ... d-possible
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09 ... ablet.html
http://www.dieblinkenlights.com/blog_en ... -vaporware

kalmar · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2009 23:10

It's way more like an Apple product really. If it was MS it'd surely have 400 buttons on it.

Malabelm · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2009 23:15

It can't be an MS product. The interface looks designed.

Don't Apple have patents on Multi-touch?

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Malabar Front wrote:

Don't Apple have patents on Multi-touch?

Yeah, although they haven't gone after Palm yet so perhaps they doubt they are enforceable.

Malabelm · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2009 23:25

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Malabar Front wrote:

Don't Apple have patents on Multi-touch?

Yeah, although they haven't gone after Palm yet so perhaps they doubt they are enforceable.

I don't know anything about the Pre, so wasn't aware it had that feature. It'd be a shame if it were enforceable, given how crippling it'd be for innovation and competition.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49237

Writing urls freehand though? Really?

KovacsC · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:53

It must have to have a virtual keybaord or summat..

Grim... · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:54

Craster wrote:

Writing urls freehand though? Really?

Sure. I used to do that on my P800 - P900. It's no worse than typing them.
90% of the time on mobile devices you're looking in your bookmarks or searching the web anyway.

Oh, and also: DO FUCKING WANT.

Grim... · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:56

I'd be much more inclined to believe it was real if it used Bing maps rather than Google maps

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/24 ... 9pctablet/
This is the reality of tablet PC computing today. Not that scifi bullshit. Which I would so achingly like to exist.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49237

Looking more likely that this is real - as a tech demo, at least.

http://gizmodo.com/5369493/the-courier- ... ret-tablet

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Craster wrote:

Looking more likely that this is real - as a tech demo, at least.

DO STILL WANT.

Mind you, it's worth remembering what a similar tech demo video of Vista looked like:

Bobbyaro · **Joined:** 18th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 11864

Want, want, want. want. Thought about getting the Archos T9 tablet thingy as it looks quite nice (and exists), but this I would get, assuming it is anything like the above.

Also, what is "multi touch"?

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49237

Multitouch is the screen being able to recognise pressure from multiple points at once. Like being able to zoom the iPhone by pinching two fingers together.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49237

I love the look of this thing, but I'm not sold on the pen. It's a bit of a shame that both demos have been about shoe designers, too.

Bobbyaro · **Joined:** 18th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 11864

Craster wrote:

I love the look of this thing, but I'm not sold on the pen. It's a bit of a shame that both demos have been about shoe designers, too.

That's because shoe designers use Apple.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

I'd retrain as a shoe designer to get one of these.

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:47

Isn't there some weird thing about multi-touch that means Apple has a patent on one 'type', and MS another? I know they patented some multi-touch stuff from Surface ages ago.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

Grim... wrote:

Isn't there some weird thing about multi-touch that means Apple has a patent on one 'type', and MS another? I know they patented some multi-touch stuff from Surface ages ago.

I've theorised (I'm not sure) that it's the tech behind it. Apple's is based on capacitive sensing screens, Surface has cameras mounted around the edges, so is an optical system. Those would be very different patents.

I note Apple hasn't challenged Palm over the Pre's use of multitouch.

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:25

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

Surface has cameras mounted around the edges, so is an optical system

Really? But it recognises items using a contact shape-based system. How does that work if it's optical?

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

This is BumpTop:

Quote:

BumpTop is a desktop environment, designed to enhance traditional computer desktop functionality by more closely supporting the normal behavior of a real-world desk. It is aimed at stylus interaction, making it more suitable for tablet PCs and palmtops. It was created at the University of Toronto as Anand Agarawala's Masters Thesis. Anand Agarawala also gave a presentation at the TED conference about his idea. The 1.0 version was released on April 8, 2009, along with a fully featured pro version that is a paid upgrade.[3]

In BumpTop, documents are described by three-dimensional boxes lying on a virtual desk. The user can position the boxes on the desk using the stylus or mouse. Extensive use of physics effects like bumping and tossing is applied to documents when they interact, for a more realistic experience. Boxes can be stacked with well-defined gestures. Multiple selection is performed by means of a LassoMenu, which fluidly combines into a single stroke the act of lasso selection and action invocation via pie menus. BumpTop currently supports Windows XP/Vista/7, and Mac/Linux will potentially be supported in the future.[4]

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49237

I can find and use things infinitely easier on my PC than on my desk. Idiots.

Grim... · **Posted:** Thu Oct 01, 2009 14:38

I tried a demo of that last year (maybe even the year before, actually - it had a different name and was controlled with the mouse, but that's the one). It's shit.

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32624

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2 ... g-2010.ars

Quote:

Microsoft's Courier booklet is reportedly currently running on top of Windows 7 (remember the emphasis Redmond put on Windows Touch during the operating system's development), much like how the Microsoft Surface runs on top of Windows Vista, according to ZDNet. On the flip side, however, you won't be able to install Windows 7 apps on the device.

Furthermore, the rumor goes on to say that Microsoft will actually be making the booklet hardware, much like it does for its Zune portable media players and its Xbox gaming consoles. Finally, the device is currently slated for a "mid-2010" release (translation: don't expect it before Christmas 2010), but it's still not in the commercialization pipeline. ZDNet's tipster explained that Courier builds on Microsoft Office OneNote, used especially on current tablet PCs: "The concept started as a software idea on how one would really build OneNote from scratch if you could for the Tablet form factor. That then morphed into building a tablet."

Gizmodo has more details on Courier. Apparently the device is being developed around the term "infinite journal," a continuous (and searchable—again, think OneNote) document that can be used to collect together snippets of text, diagrams, webpages, contacts, and so on. The journal can be published in whole or in part online, it seems, in either a native Courier format, as a PowerPoint presentation, or as a PDF. There's also a library where things like subscriptions, notebooks, and apps, can be stored.

Multitouch finger gestures are used to navigate between pages, move images, and drag contacts/appointments around, but for data entry, handwritten text is the name of the game. Gizmodo also posted a video, produced by the same firm that collaborated with Microsoft's Pioneer Studios on the first leaked video, which further shows how Microsoft thinks we'll use Courier. The video makes us think a later iteration is being shown, compared to last time.

Microsoft is still refusing to comment on anything Courier-related since as far as the software giant is concerned, it's still all "rumors and speculation." Speculation around pricing continues to be all over the place.

I would love there to be at least some truth in this, and Microsoft not skank it up Sony-style. There are 93,000 people working at Microsoft and many of them are assuredly very, very clever. Surely they can turn out a dazzling product once in a while, free of caveats?

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:41

Where's the best place to keep up with the announcement of the Apple tablet today?

Anything better than Twitterfall?

Kern · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:45

Grim... wrote:

Where's the best place to keep up with the announcement of the Apple tablet today?

Mount Sinai.

GazChap · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 13:00

Grim... wrote:

Where's the best place to keep up with the announcement of the Apple tablet today?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/live ... ion-event/

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38608

GazChap wrote:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/live-from-the-apple-tablet-latest-creation-event/

Quote:

10:00AM - Pacific
11:00AM - Mountain
12:00PM - Central
01:00PM - Eastern
06:00PM - London
07:00PM - Paris
09:00PM - Moscow
03:00AM - Tokyo (January 28th)

Why are the Americans getting it first? Why do we have to wait until 6pm?

Plissken · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 13:08

I'm still tickled by a quote on RLLMUK yesterday about the fanboyism.

Quote:

I'm guessing that the tablet will just be a small black monolith mounted on a plinth, but with an enormous electrical current running through it so that mortals who touch it are flung across the room in a blackened heap of bones. People will camp overnight to be the first in the queue to touch it.

Dimrill · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 13:12

Can anyone tell me where's the best place to listen to, or ideally watch, the news that Cash4Gold will release tonight? I'm a massive fan of listening to adverts, you see.

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 13:16

Move Dimrill to the top of the "doesn't get it" pile.

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 13:17

How long was it between when the iPhone was announced and you could get one in your hot, sweaty hands?

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38608

Announced Jan 9, 2007 [1]

UK Release 29th June 2007 [2]

DavPaz's sweaty hands? Still not touched one.

[1] Wiki
[2] BBC Website

Plissken · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 13:21

About four months, I think.

IIRC, it was announced about now, and available in... June?

Like a lemming, I will be following this announcement closely. Just out of curiosity.

Edit: Damn you DavPazBells!

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 13:23

I've been waiting for a good tablet for years.

Dimrill · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 13:24

I've been sitting here on the freeway looking at the Laramie poster for the last 3 hours. I kinda want a cigarette.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38608

"Don't Eat Beef"

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 38608

"Eat Deer!"

Zardoz · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 13:30

Grim... wrote:

I've been waiting for a good tablet for years.

Did the Parrots Eat Them All?

kalmar · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 15:42

iPad day today apparently.

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 15:50

kalmar wrote:

I'm not reading ten posts.

FTFY

In fairness, only about three of them are worth reading.

Dimrill · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 15:51

But I only posted twice. Who's was the other one?

kalmar · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 16:04

Grim... wrote:

kalmar wrote:

I'm not reading ten posts.

FTFY

In fairness, only about three of them are worth reading.

That was my point

So anyway.

Zardoz · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 16:06

kalmar wrote:

iPad day today apparently.

I bet those Oirish caaaant weyt t'pley dorws empeetrees now.

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 16:08

kalmar wrote:

Grim... wrote:

kalmar wrote:

I'm not reading ten posts.

FTFY

In fairness, only about three of them are worth reading.

That was my point

So anyway.

Still three hours to go, though.
I will be hassling Craster to use his JesusPhone to find out about the JesusPad for me.

Cras · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 49237

I don't think it's got a secret hotline to the boss man, you know.

Zardoz · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 16:19

I hope it's a hover board.

With tiddies.

Malabelm · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 16:42

Not long to go now.

Dimrill · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 16:45

DBSnappa · **Posted:** Wed Jan 27, 2010 16:51

Craster wrote:

I don't think it's got a secret hotline to the boss man, you know.

You could always email him during the presentation, see if his push notifications are on

)

sjobs@apple.com

Be Excellent To Each Other

Alleged leaked Microsoft tablet demo -- "Courier"

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