Microsoft Courier interface detailed (but that still doesn't make it real)

By Phil Nickinson
last updated

OK, so there's still no telling if Microsoft's rumored "Courier" project is real, or if it ever will see the light of day. But as a project, it's certainly gaining credibility with Gizmodo unearthing new details about how that slick interface works.

What's that have to do with Windows Mobile, you ask? Admittedly, not a whole lot. But it's another reason why we're expecting Windows Mobile 7 to not just be a new iteration of the operating system of yore. Also, tie it in with that mobile UI concept video we saw a while ago. (And if you want something more near-term, again, we'll point toward the Zune HD.) Even if the Courier never gets out of the concept stage, it shows that there are people thinking into the future. Now Microsoft has to let them loose.

Phil Nickinson
Phil Nickinson

Phil is the father of two beautiful girls and is the Dad behind Modern Dad. Before that he spent seven years at the helm of Android Central. Before that he spent a decade in a newsroom of a two-time Pulitzer Prize-finalist newspaper. Before that — well, we don't talk much about those days. Subscribe to the Modern Dad newsletter!

5 Comments
  • Do want ever so badly.
  • Doesn't this thing run off Windows 7? If that's the case (and if you could flip back to a more native Windows 7 format as needed) that would actually be a slick form factor. You could use it with one screen as the main screen and the second display as a QWERTY/widget dock. Or you could use it like traditional dual monitors, albeit in portrait aspect ratio.
  • The thing about MS is that they are capable of absolutely producing some utterly amazing ideas but yet they never run with it. Of course, it's easy for us to want from our perspective and we don't know what barriers they may face from theirs but this doesn't make it any less frustrating. In regards to WinMo 7, I just want it to be as awesome as the Zune HD is and they are guaranteed to have a winner. My fingers are crossed.
  • That's what I don't get. Why wouldn't something like this get out of the concept stage? The only reason I could see would be that it's just too expensive to produce. It looks like an amazing product that if the expenses could be kept down, would be the gadget to beat all gadgets!
  • The biggest problem with this is tying down all the partners to push custom content for it. This is where having a centralized, established content distribution system (i.e., iTunes) can be a huge selling point for getting these deals. We've already been seeing the rumors about Apple trying to get deals inked for custom content for their tablet with all sorts of major sites/publishers. This is one area where Microsoft trails FAR behind . . . partly because they were knocked down so much from the anti-trust laws that they had to neuter and de-emphasize their multimedia offerings. Microsoft doesn't have it's own popular in-house system akin to iTunes that it can leverage for all these custom deals Apple's able to snag. It's funny because iTunes is a festering pile of crap IMO that hasn't changed much at all since it's launch. But it's gained mass popularity and even as the iPod's popularity begins to wane it's still at the heart of Apple's success.