Rumours of Microsoft's Courier tablet much exaggerated

In the wake of the release of Apple's iPad, the eyes of the world have swivelled towards the tablet market, and speculation has focused on who will release what, when, and how good it would be.

However, it emerged yesterday that one of the projected front-runners - a tablet from Microsoft known as the Courier - is no longer going ahead.

Many people in the gadget world had high hopes of the Courier. Gizmodo website pointed out that unlike many tablet devices, early indications were that the Courier wasn't making the mistake of being an oversized smartphone or and undersized netbook. The device, which is believed to have got as far as prototype stage,  was rumoured to have two 7-inch screens, hinged in the centre, with the capacity for writing and drawing with a stylus as well as the classic phone-style finger-touch. Leaked information about the device also suggested that it had a well-thought-out new style of interface on which everything 'just works'.

It sounded good, but it seems that for some reason Microsoft has got cold feet about the whole thing. After hearing rumours that the project had been canned, Gizmodo contacted Microsoft who confirmed that the Courier will not become a reality any time soon. Microsoft Corporate VP of Communications Frank Shaw commented: "At any given time, we're looking at new ideas, investigating, testing, incubating them. The Courier project is an example of this type of effort. It will be evaluated for use in future offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time."

So tablet fiends out there will have to look elsewhere for the next big rival to the iPad.