Photos and details of Microsoft's 'digital journal' tablet unveiled

Images and further information about Microsoft's Courier tablet appeared on the web on March 5, showing the glossy device in all its glory.

Microsoft timed their “leak” perfectly to diffuse attention away from Apple's March 5 iPad release date announcement. Subconsciously echoing a warning to would-be iPad purchasers: wait and see what else arrives in the tablet scene before rushing into a purchase of a tablet device this year.

Images of the booklet first appeared on technology blog site, Gizmodo on September 22. The initial images showed the two-screened, pen-dominated device as a product that resembles an e-reader more than a computer; photos and a video of the portable device showed it seamlessly crafting beautiful layouts from a handwritten text-input and color swatches captured from the device's camera.

When bloggers first set their eyes on the device, they dubbed it the tablet "you'd leave your wife for."

The video showed users interacting with the Booklet in a number of ways, from "flipping" pages with the swipe of a finger to drawing images with a stylus.

The pictures and information that appeared in Engadget's March 5 exclusive brands the device as a “digital journal.”

“It's designed to be seriously portable,” explained Engaget. “[I]t's under an inch thick, weighs a little over a pound, and isn't much bigger than a 5x7 photo when closed. That's a lot smaller than we expected - this new picture really puts it into perspective - and the internals apparently reflect that emphasis on mobility:  we're told the Courier is built on Tegra 2 and runs on the same OS as the Zune HD, Pink, and Windows Mobile 7 Series, which we're taking to mean Windows CE 6.”

According to Engadget the device will be released in the second half of 2010. No indication of price was given.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/05/microsofts-courier-digital-journal-exclusive-pictures-and-de/