Microsoft Courier - a potential rival to the Apple iPad?

(Please note, this article is based on leaked information, and speculative rumours. As such, the final details of the Microsoft Courier can and possibly will change.)

After it seemed the world was firmly divided into two camps. There were many people who claimed that the iPad was the ultimate portable internet device, and that by encompassing things such as mobile gaming and downloadable e-books, it was set to revolutionise the way that the public consumes media. The second camp was more critical, stating that, in their opinion, the iPad is 'an oversized iPod Touch', and that it was a niche product, for a niche that didn't actually exist.

Whichever side of that debate is right, the fact is that there are other tablet PCs on the market, and they continue to be developed by major manufacturers.

Perhaps the most exciting one, and a potential direct rival for the iPad, is a device known as the Microsoft Courier, which features a unique take on the tablet PC genre. It is, essentially, a folding device that from the outside looks more like a traditional laptop. However, when opened, it reveals two touchscreens, viewed in portrait as if the user is reading a book. It also features a range of unique features which may make it a threat to the iPad.

It's worth comparing the two devices, as they demonstrate radically different approaches to making a tablet PC. With the iPad, that device runs on an update version of the iPhone OS, making it function in much the same way as one would expect an iPhone to. This includes features such as App Store access, and mobile gaming built around the accelerometer in the iPad. As such, the experience of using one is said to be very similar to using an iPhone, albeit in a larger form factor. It is this fact that has led many to say it's, at heart, a big iPhone without a phone (and given the higher value of it, as with all Apple products, insurance is worth thinking about, just as it's a very sensible idea to get iPhone insurance if you own Apple's trademark mobile phone).

The Microsoft Courier, however, takes a different approach, as it seems to be structured more around the idea of being an electronic journal, rather than a traditional laptop. Interaction with the Microsoft Courier is done via the two touchscreens, but unlike the iPad, it includes a 'Courier pen', allowing you to write on the screen as you would in a real notepad. Thus, interaction with device feels more like you are simply jotting down ideas, and flicking through the pages of a journal, instead of the more PC like experience of using separate applications for separate functions.

However, the Courier does share one very thing with the iPad, and that is the fact that the OS isn't a traditional PC operating system. With the iPad, it uses, as already stated, and updated version of the iPhone OS. The Courier, however, uses an interface that seems to be built around the same technology as the Zune HD and Windows Phone 7 Series. Windows Phone 7 Series is deliberately built to be used on mobile phones, and to not be based on a PC experience, and it seems that, in much the same way, the Courier's OS is designed to work only in this tablet format. Like Windows Phone 7 Series, it also eschews the traditional PC experience for something that makes it unique, and that won't be found on any other device.

That reason alone may be enough to make it a serious threat to the iPad, when both devices come to market.