Second Microsoft Courier Video Revealed. Is It A Media Device?
Another Microsoft Courier video has been sent to Gizmodo which goes into much more detail than the first video. This video is focusing on the Courier’s abilities to organize images into meaningful projects. From looking at both videos, it might be obvious by now that the Redmond giant is targeting designers and individuals that work on projects requiring a lot of flexibility with how images are used and organized. Microsoft won’t stop there, but I haven’t seen any media capabilities demonstrated on the unit such as movies and music yet.
Why is this perfect for designers of all kinds? Because as the video rightly points out several times, you want to always get inspiration as a designer. You want to clip images quickly, organize them together, make comments, and allow others to collaborate with you. With the Courier, you can easily “save” web images by flicking the pictures from the web to a journal page, make comments on it, share it with anyone. You can publish entire projects online in three file formats, using either a Courier file, PDF, or a powerpoint. These users that you share it with can comment on this image or project, further giving you insight on your design.
To illustrate that this booklet/tablet might be made for designers, one needs to look at two Microsoft Research projects which the Courier is likely based on, Codex and InkSeine. Codex is a dual screen prototype device which allows two users to view two screens by either placing it in a folded standing vertical/horizontal form or even by taking the screens apart and giving one to a friend. In the Codex video, it is clear that this form factor was intended for designers collaborating on projects. On the other hand, InkSeine is an inking and notes organizer application which sure does look similar to the UI of the Courier, especially the color picker and the scrapbook capabilities.
We’re not going to summarize the video. But one neat feature was the saving gimmick in the hinge. If you have an image and you wish to put it on another page, simply drag it to the hinge, and start flicking through pages. The image will stay in the hinge until you release.
One thing which I’ve been wondering about is the speed with which these videos are showcasing the device. For example, check out 00:30 where the user is “flipping” through websites. Presumably, each website is like a tab in browser, and when you have 10 browsers open on a portable device, chances are you won’t be flicking with ease. With regards to speed on portable devices and commercials, we saw this a year ago when the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority banned an iPhone television advertisement for misleading consumers about the speed of the device.
Mary Jo Foley of ZDnet says that according to her unverified tipster, the Courier should be available in mid-2010, which she says is rather optimistic. Additionally, the Courier for now might be running on top of Windows 7.
Courier User Interface from Gizmodo on Vimeo.
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