Will Microsoft's Next Tablet Computer Succeed?

Microsoft (MSFT) has been doing what it can to finally work on the offensive. Bing search is now making significant progress against rivals and Windows 7 is getting excellent reviews. There is even talk that the next generation Zune HD will become a serious contender along with the recent upgrade to the Xbox gaming/entertainment console.

The retail stores we are still scratching our heads about, but we will wait to comment until that plan is either launched or squashed.

Now we are seeing the first glimpse of what could be the next generation of tablet computing. If you recall, this has been on the mind of Microsoft and Bill Gates for years. The first attempts were met with lukewarm reception. But that was then. Computing power is much more significant and much more energy efficient.

The photo (hat tip Gizmodo) shows a device that opens like a book or traditional day-timer and has both pen and touch-screen input. Could this be a real competitor to Apple’s (AAPL) 10″ tablet announced to become available in February 2010?

For one, it will probably interface much better in an office environment. That would be a big plus. Then, if Microsoft is actually controlling the specs and design we could possibly finally have a more proprietary hardware product that will diminish the problems with comparability. That will help to offset the upgrade problems we have seen on PCs.

I for one have utilized the handwriting recognition software on the early windows devises and new ones. It works very well (with a bit of training) and have found it to be much faster that touch or key entry.

Gizmodo calls it “astonishing”:

Courier is a real device, and we’ve heard that it’s in the “late prototype” stage of development. It’s not a tablet, it’s a booklet. The dual 7-inch (or so) screens are multitouch, and designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. They’re connected by a hinge that holds a single iPhone-esque home button. Statuses, like wireless signal and battery life, are displayed along the rim of one of the screens. On the back cover is a camera, and it might charge through an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre.

Until recently, it was a skunkworks project deep inside Microsoft, only known to the few engineers and executives working on it—Microsoft’s brightest, like Entertainment & Devices tech chief and user-experience wizard J. Allard, who’s spearheading the project. Currently, Courier appears to be at a stage where Microsoft is developing the user experience and showing design concepts to outside agencies.

When and where is yet to be known. But if this photo/info is true, Microsoft best get moving to try to get ahead of the February Apple move.

Disclosure: Horowitz & Company clients may hold positions of securities mentioned as of the date published.

Comments

[Roger Knights:]

I think the foldable concept would strongly appeal to some users, if it can be made to work fairly smoothly. (I suggested the folding idea almost a year ago on an Apple forum, and probably many others did so ages ago.) But it should be smaller, because its greatest selling point (for guys anyway) would be its "pocketability."

Even if Microsoft's version is flawed, at least it will get people thinking along the lines of, "Here's how it SHOULD have been done," so eventually someone will get it right.

Sep 24 02:42 AM

[User 208961:]

Lets look at these "innovations":

Foldable, like a circa 1990 laptop?
Stylus, like a circa 1993 Apple Newton?
Hand writing recognition, like a circa 1995 Palm Pilot?
Multi Touch screen, like a circa 2007 iPhone?
Smaller screen. like a circa 2007 Origami, or better yet, like a never made it market Palm Foleo?
Software, like the circa 2008 Vista?

Microsoft has a long habit of announcing products months, if not years ahead of actual release date. This is just a PR message saying that they can be innovative like Apple.

Hardly.

Sep 24 03:30 AM

[User 404024:]

All put together, no one has it! Basede on your alias, your comment/bias is not surprising.


On Sep 24 03:30 AM User 208961 wrote:

> Lets look at these "innovations":
>
> Foldable, like a circa 1990 laptop?
> Stylus, like a circa 1993 Apple Newton?
> Hand writing recognition, like a circa 1995 Palm Pilot?
> Multi Touch screen, like a circa 2007 iPhone?
> Smaller screen. like a circa 2007 Origami, or better yet, like a
> never made it market Palm Foleo?
> Software, like the circa 2008 Vista?
>
> Microsoft has a long habit of announcing products months, if not
> years ahead of actual release date. This is just a PR message saying
> that they can be innovative like Apple.
>
> Hardly.
>
>

Sep 24 04:23 AM

[hillshire:]

You do realize that is just computer graphic concept art, not a real object, don't you? Until they actually build it and sell it, it's just theory, not fact.

blogs.wsj.com/digits/2.../

Sep 24 06:39 AM

[waterman:]

Thank you, hillshire, for stating that it "... is just computer graphic concept art, not a real object ..."

When I first saw the images and read the article on Gizmodo, my immediate reactions was these are not photos but then I didn't see any mention of whether they were concept art or photos so I wondered. Is this a demo model or a 3-D virtual model? Mr. Horowitz, you refer to "the photo" - where did the Gizmodo article say the images on their website were "photos"? The demo is even an animation NOT a real demonstration.

It is funny that you have comparison between two non-released products - a MS tablet and an Apple tablet? We won't really know what either has until it is formally announced and there are real specs for a real product AND they have been demo'ed and tried my real customers. There is no announcement by Apple of a "February Apple move" and why would anyone think that a MS tablet would work better in an Office environment than an Apple tablet - haven't you paid attention to what is in Snow Leopard and how the iPhone is making inroads to the enterprise. Also, MS Office is available for Macs and the bulk of office work is done in this suite of applications.

In any case, has no one ever heard of Apple's Inkwell software that is included in OS X - Leopard?
from www.apple.com/accessib...
From that page:

"Mac OS X Leopard comes with built-in handwriting recognition technology called Inkwell (or Ink). If you connect a graphics tablet to your Mac, you can write on the tablet using a stylus, and Inkwell translates what you write to typed words in your document.

Some applications allow you to enter text directly; with others, you first enter the text into a “scratch pad” (where you can edit or revise it) before bringing it into the application. Inkwell supports several stylus gestures, making it easy to select, edit, and delete text. It also understands English, French, and German."

Also, Mr. Horowitz please correct the following words in your articles: "windows devises " to "devices" and "problems with comparability", I think you mean "compatibility" ?

Sep 24 08:57 AM

[Tom B:]

"Bing search is now making significant progress against rivals"

The preliminary numbers I've seen don't support this conclusion.

"Windows 7 is getting excellent reviews."

...from individuals in the PC press who are paid to give MSFT products excellent reviews. Win 7 still isn't even UNIX; tell any computer scientist it's a significant release and he'll laugh in your face.

"There is even talk that the next generation Zune HD will become a serious contender along with the recent upgrade to the Xbox gaming/entertainment console."

You mean, the "app"-less Zune HD and the overheating Xbox's in the money-hemorhaging Xbox division?

"It’s not a tablet, it’s a booklet." Gimmick. I look at the video and all I see is a lot of existing iPhone features in "booklet" form.

Sep 24 09:15 AM

[BMWTwisty:]

Yeah. It'll work just like all the other exquisitely designed MS turds.

Sep 24 11:45 AM

[brewer:]

It's FUD, not theory.


On Sep 24 06:39 AM hillshire wrote:

> You do realize that is just computer graphic concept art, not a real
> object, don't you? Until they actually build it and sell it, it's
> just theory, not fact.
>
> blogs.wsj.com/digits/2.../

Sep 28 02:43 PM