Courier:Microsoft secret tablet flashed.

We’ve waxed poetic about Apple’s mythical Tablet recently (and even seen some more evidence to support it). But Microsoft, too, has a rather attractive looking tablet-like device in the speculative stages as well: the Courier.

Now, a leaked video of the Courier’s user interface sheds more light on some of the design aesthetic behind this still unconfirmed device that appears to be part tablet and part digital planner, with a dual-screen hinged design and pen and finger controls.

In the video, unearthed by Gizmodo, we see a very fluid interface where any item can be drag and dropped easily. The overarching metaphor is apparently dubbed the “infinite journal,” where items can be clipped and stored from the web, annotated and highlighted, moved around, and modified with a palette of drawing and design tools.

An on-board camera handles bringing in visuals and documents from the physical world as well. Everything is searchable for later retrieval, with a Courier Pen handling text input duties. Of course the device overall is a touchscreen, and designed with finger control and gestures in mind as well.

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Easy Publishing, But No Apps?

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According to the video, publishing from your Infinite Journal is easy, with pages and sections exporting to Courier files, Powerpoint presentations, or PDFs. And according to Mary-Jo Foley, the device will run Windows 7 … but not be able to install Windows 7 applications. Say what?
Yep — apparently that’s because someone up high thinks the first generation of Microsoft Tablets failed because the apps weren’t specific to the form factor. There could be some truth in there but still — we hope for Microsoft’s sake they come up with a better alternative app store than what they’ve done with the Zune HD to-date.
Check out the video below and let us know what you think: are you sweating this device? Which interests you more: the mythical Apple Tablet, or the mythical Microsoft Courier?

Source ►TechCrunch   Image by ► Gizmodo  ☺☺☺