Microsoft Courier concept tablet(s)

Gizmodo has an interesting video of a concept device being explored by Microsoft, called Courier. Essentially it’s a dual screen design that supports both multi-touch and pen input. Think of it as two multi-touch slates joined together to create one seemless experience. For instance, content can easily be slid from one screen to the other.

I’m a great fan of multi-slate concepts like this, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that this is a concept design and to be practical we’re talking about either very thin and light slates or alternatively a dual-screen slate. Maybe with the coming generations of Intel processors we might see designs like this coming to fruition. However, I’d be on the lookout for ultra-thin single slates first before dual screen implementations.

The OLPC group has suggested that particularly for book-oriented applications that this kind of dual screen device is the way to go. It might be. It definitely would be a great host for the electronic workbooks I’ve been working on. However, I’m even keener on the general principles of super lightness and super thinness for a single screened device.

I’ve got to say though, it’s terrific to see Microsoft still in the Tablet (spelled with a capital T and leveraging both pen input and multitouch) game. You can almost see how Outlook, OneNote, Powerpoint, and the browser fit so effortlessly into a design like this. If Word can be squeezed in here too, then the Office team should be standing in line for a device like this. Here’s hoping so.