Mum’s not always the best word when it comes to gadgets. Sometimes it can be better for companies to leak information little by little to generate a little excitement and anticipation for a product. That’s never really been Apple’s SOP, but they will occasionally announce products way ahead of schedule. With the rumored Apple tablet, though, the company’s been quiet, and Microsoft just might be positioned to take advantage of the silence.
Today Gizmodo leaked the first news of a Microsoft tablet called “Courier.” It’s a dual-touchscreen device that uses a blend of gestures and a stylus for control. The whole thing is built like a notebook, you know, the paper kind, with a camera on the backend. Gizmodo even has a video to make the thing look much cooler than it actually is.
I’m pretty skeptical about the whole situation. First, the Giz article was written under the byline “The Paperboy,” which, if you read Gizmodo, you’ll recognize is not a regular contributor. There’s also the fact that no one else seemed to get the exclusive news + video (also granted, it was shown at the Gizmodo Gallery), and frankly, the video looks too good to be true. Granted, the whole thing is shot around the alluring concept of being a young design professional. The controls are clean, if a little complicated at times, and show plenty of eye-candy, but that’s how almost every device video comes off. As one Giz commenter reminded me, even the HP TouchSmart looked great over video. It turned out to be a terribly limited platform with somewhat clunky controls.
Gizmodo promises more in-depth coverage on the device as the week goes on. I’ll wait to pass more judgment until I see a hands-on. For now, I think Microsoft is doing something really smart here. Nothing like imprinting the way a tablet “should work” into consumers minds to generate buzz. Apple’s device will have to be truly fantastic to get attention after this.
