Say Hello To M, Facebook's New Personal Assistant

It seems that every piece of technology needs an "assistant" these days. I mean Apple has Siri, Windows 10 has Cortana, even Google has Now. And now, it seems, that Facebook is jumping on this bandwagon. There have been rumors that Facebook was working on an assistant within the Messenger app, but details have finally surfaced that bring it all together. This means that Apple, Microsoft, and Google will have yet another company to compete with.

In a post on Facebook (of course), Facebook Messenger Lead David Marcus wrote, "Today we're beginning to test a new service called M. M is a personal digital assistant inside of Messenger that completes tasks and finds information on your behalf. It's powered by artificial intelligence that's trained and supervised by people."

Marcus went on to say, "Unlike other AI-based services in the market, M can actually complete tasks on your behalf. It can purchase items, get gifts delivered to your loved ones, book restaurants, travel arrangements, appointments, and way more. This is early in the journey to build M into an at-scale service. But it's an exciting step towards enabling people on Messenger to get things done across a variety of things, so they can get more time to focus on what's important in their lives."

Ever since Marcus joined with Facebook the Messenger product has been churning like crazy in terms of development. Regardless if it's payments or a standalone site, the product seems like it is getting a lot more attention than it ever has before.

Siri, Now, and Cortana, and M are now one big happy family! Basically what these companies are doing is they are taking the data that you've put into the service and are using it to help you out or suggest different things based off of what it knows about you. Putting M inside of Messenger is a quite a brilliant move due to the fact that people are used to tapping out messages to people as opposed to speaking out commands like other assistants sometimes require.

Facebook acquiring Wit.ai back in January provided the human side of the project, meaning the "trained and supervised by people" part that Marcus mentioned. Google and Apple have focused primarily on the science of Artificial Intelligence whereas Facebook has decided to power through the development of a personal assistant with more human hands.

This means that it won't be cheap for Facebook. Should the project scale out it will have to wait until the humans teach its AI to handle most requests automatically or it will have to spend a ton of money hiring a ton of people to assist the assistant. In addition to that, the launch of this tech will be very, very slow but as soon as it is released you can check back here for more information!

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Microsoft Making a Reputable Successor to the Surface

When it came out back in 2013, the Surface Pro 2 was a huge improvement from the original Surface RT. It also came with options. You could either get the Surface Pro 2 or just the Surface RT which gave consumers the choice between Windows 8.1 or Windows RT. Right now, it is still the latest addition to the line of Windows RT tablets.

What is Microsoft Planning?

Because of it's success with two different versions, it was odd that when they announced the Surface Pro 3, there was no mention of a regular Surface 3. They did plan to launch a Surface mini, but that got canceled right before they were about to officially announce it. Now, there really isn't any chance for a Surface 3 at all.

Reports say that Microsoft is getting ready to put out a new tablet that is supposed to be the big brother to the Surface 2 pretty soon, but it isn't going to be an RT device. It is going to have a fanless design and have either an Intel ATOM or an Intel Core M based processor. It will run the full version of Windows, which is a first for a non-pro tablet from the company.

With BUILD coming up, it is expected than Microsoft will announce the tablet around that time and probably launch it soon after. It will obviously come loaded with Windows 8.1 but will be upgradable to Windows 10 whenever it comes out. This comes as a bit of a pleasant surprise considering that Microsoft said none of the non-pro devices would be upgradeable to Windows 10. It does make sense because it will be launching so close to the time of the new operating system, but I don't think anyone was really expecting it.

What Does This Mean for Apple?

The new tablet is said to be a low-end tablet that will be a direct successor to the Surface 2, which has since been discontinued. In addition to that, it is also said that this new tablet will complete more directly against Apple's iPad. Apple has long since been the leader when it comes to tablets, probably because Apple was the first company to come out with a tablet, essentially setting the industry standard for the technology.

Big Fixes Coming!

The one thing that this tablet is doing right is that it is fixing arguably the biggest problem with previous Surface tablets, the fact that they didn't run Windows. This new tablet will run the full version of Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 10. This means that it will be able to run any Windows software that runs on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 according to reports from WinBeta.

The lack of software with the Surface 2 and Surface RT was a huge problem for these devices. In fact, the problem was so sever that Microsoft ended up writing down over $900 million in unsold inventory thanks to poor sales of the original Surface RT. In turn, Microsoft stopped selling the low end tablets and stating that existing Surface Pro 2 tablets would not be upgradeable to Windows 10.

What Does This Mean for the Future?

Microsoft unveiled last month a version of Windows that was designed for the tiny $35 Raspberry Pi PC. This version of Windows 10 could, hypothetically, be used to run on other small devices, giving Windows a new foothold in the Internet of Things (IoT) market. The IoT market is, essentially, the market where everyday things are given sensors, chips and apps, allowing them to join the internet.

This is important because Microsoft has promised that Windows 10 will work like a single operating system across multiple devices. What this means is that no matter what you are using Windows 10 on, whether it be a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, it will run and feel the same on each device. As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella puts it, this is a major part of the company's strategy to make everyone "love Windows 10".

Check out the sources here and here

The 5 Best Apps You Don't Know About!

There are literally millions of apps on the market, and new ones come out every day. At this point, there are way too many to just gamble on them until you find the right ones for you. Hopefully, this list can help you find some super productive apps that will help you out in your everyday life!

Nintype: A super fast keyboard app

Nintype is an app that lets you type super fast by combining swiping motions and double tapping for double letters. It also has shortcuts for saved texts, emojis, hashtags, and any other shortcuts you set up. With this keyboard app, you can type more than 100 words per minute!

Cloe: Siri's smarter sister

Cloe is kind of like Siri. You can use it when you need to find an answer to just about any question. The main difference is that Cloe is actually powered by actual people. Sometimes Siri can steer you a little wrong, or give you something that isn't exactly what you were looking for. By interacting with a real human, the chances of that are slim. Also, you don't even need an app. It's not an app at all! You just have to sign up, and then you can text Cloe any time you'd like.

Workflow: Keeping  you from wasting time

Basically, Workflow is an app that can customize your phone to be more productive, in general. You can use it to completely skip tasks that waste time. You can tell your phone exactly what to do when it notices a certain action. You can schedule certain pictures to upload to social media, automatically call in to conference calls at the exact time they are scheduled, and pretty much anything else you can think of that will keep you productive.

Evernote Scannable: Grow your LinkedIn profile by scanning business cards

Basically, this app makes digital copies of business cards, receipts, and anything else. It pulls the information from these documents, finds the person on LinkedIn, and saves them to your contact list. Brilliant.

Duet: Use your iPad as a 2nd display for your Mac

If you have an extra iPad laying around, you can actually use it to be way more productive than you might have thought. Duet lets you connect your iPad to your Mac with the charging cable and actually use it as a second screen. This is especially awesome when you are doing photo editing, video editing, or music production. Nothing is cooler than having one screen dedicated to editing audio and another screen dedicated to an on-screen mixing board.

Microsoft And Samsung In Lawsuit Over $1 Billion Royalties Agreement

According to a recent court document it appears as if Samsung has been paying Microsoft $1 billion per year in royalties in order to use its technology in Samsung's Android smartphones and tablets. In addition to that, the filing also shows that Microsoft also offered to reduce Samsung's payments if the company developed Widows tablets and phones in addition to Android ones.

This information was recently brought to light during a lawsuit that Microsoft filed against Samsung back in August. The original complaint from Microsoft was partially blacked out in order to hide confidential business information, though the revised filing that was made available is unredacted. Both companies signed an agreement in the latter part of 2011 where Samsung agreed to pay royalties to Microsoft for seven years for the use of its patented technologies.

For years Microsoft has claimed that Android infringes its patents and that many other companies, in addition to Samsung, have signed such agreements. These contracts are usually highly confidential, meaning that it is unusual to get a peek at any of the numbers behind them.

According to the filing, for the second year of the agreement that spanned July 2012 to June 2013, Samsung was required to pay Microsoft a little over $1 billion in royalties. That number is based on the number of Android devices Samsung sold and the prices it charged for them. Microsoft is claiming that Samsung was lagging behind and was late on the payment. Part of the lawsuit was so Microsoft could recover nearly $7 million in interest that it says Samsung still owes it.

An the other half of the argument, Samsung claims that Microsoft invalidated the agreement due to the fact that it bought Nokia's handset business. As a result, Samsung is refusing to make further payments for this year and the years to follow. This would mean billions of dollars in lost revenue for Microsoft.

Microsoft is retorting, stating that its acquisition of Nokia's handset business does not breach the agreement it made with Samsung and says that there are "explicit provisions" that cover the acquisition of other companies. The original deal between Samsung and Microsoft was a cross-license agreement, meaning that Samsung was also agreeing to license technologies to Microsoft. With this deal broken, Samsung is threatening to sue Microsoft for using Nokia's technology.

Google developed Android and is currently the world's most popular smartphone operating system. However, Microsoft believes that the company infringes on a lot of its patents and, in 2010, it started a licensing program in order to collect royalties from Android smartphone makers. Samsung isn't the only company to pay Microsoft royalties. Twenty-four additional companies also pay royalties, including HTC, Acer and Barnes & Noble.

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Why is the Windows Phone OS a Flop?

Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS was hyped up quite a bit, but honestly, it simply hasn’t really been all that popular. It has fantastic reviews and is available on all four of the major U.S. carriers, so what is the problem? According to Gartner, a company that offers global technology research, Microsoft’s phones were only able to haul in 1.5 percent of the market in the third quarter.

Tech analysts have been thrown off guard by the Windows phones. They seem like great phones, but consumers simply don’t seem interested in them. It just does not make sense that reliable, feature-packed phones, produced by a successful, leading company, aren’t selling. Well, Charlie Kindel, an employee at Microsoft for 21 years and the Windows Phone’s chief developer has offered his opinion as to why the phones are not a slam-dunk success.

Kindel posted a blog post that stated that he believed that the phones and the Windows OS have been unsuccessful because he believes that Microsoft has worked to alienate itself from both phone manufacturers and wireless carriers. He feels that with both its required hardware specs and tight upgrade policy, Microsoft is severing relationships by limiting the freedom of both carriers and manufacturers. “This is why, despite being a superior PRODUCT to Android, Windows Phone has not sold as well,” Kindel wrote.

“Google has been wildly successful with Android (at least in terms of units) because Android was built to reduce friction between all sides of the market. It ‘bows down’ to the device manufactures AND the carriers. It enabled device manufactures to do what they do best (build lots of devices). It enabled carriers to do what they do best (market lots of devices). It enabled users tons of choice,” he wrote.

“WP (Windows Phone) raises its middle finger at both the device manufacturers and mobile carriers. WP says ‘here’s the hardware spec you shalt use’ (to the device manufacturers). And it says ‘Here’s how it will be updated’ (to the carriers).”

"Thus both of those sides of the market are reluctant. Especially the carriers, but also the device manufacturers. Remember that end users just do what they are told (by advertising and RSPs [salespeople]). Carriers own the marketing money and spend billions a year," Kindel wrote.

Right now, carriers and manufacturers are still willing to make and sell Windows phones; however, it may be due to the fact that they are afraid of becoming too attached to Google or Apple, not necessarily because they enjoy producing Windows devices.

Some of Kindel’s readers did not share his views and felt that he wasn’t necessarily considering the role of software developers and apps.

"Android and iOS are 'safe' because that's where the apps are. Anything else? Not safe. Every conversation, every ad, and every Techcrunch post, er, Verge post, will remind them of where the apps are," blogger Robert Scoble said.

"I agree with you that the relatively weak app ecosystem in WP7 also plays an important part. I do not believe it is the most important reason," Kindel responded.

Microsoft has been saying recently that it is making a major push with Nokia; however, there have been some very mixed reviews about the Nokia 800 Windows phone in the six countries that is has debuted in so far.

"Analysts said there was nothing particularly wrong with the sleek-looking handsets, other than a software glitch on some models affecting battery life, but consumers were just not biting," a Reuters report said.

Kindel said, “The question in my mind is whether Microsoft’s continued investment in WP and close partnership with device manufacturers such as Nokia will eventually enable a breakthrough here. I know that MS can be very persistent & patient; it’s been so in the past. We will see. In the meantime, Android devices will continue to sell like hotcakes and fragmentation will continue to get worse and worse.”

Sources: cek.log - Windows Phone is Superior; Why Hasn’t it Taken Off? and PCMag - Former Microsoft Exec Scopes Windows Phone's Failure

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Verizon's HTC Trophy Windows 7 Phone Available May 26

Hey, everybody! Check out the HTC Trophy, Verizon's first Windows Phone set to be available starting May 26th online! However, if buying things online isn't your thing, you can always wait until June 2nd when Verizon ships the HTC Trophy to actual stores so you can buy one in person. In addition to the early online date, Microsoft is also offering a freebie to Verizon customers. Anybody who purchases a Windows Phone from Verizon before July 15th will be eligible to receive a free Xbox 360 game. Customers will be able to choose from one of three titles: Lode Runner, Kinect Sports or Halo Reach.

You can pick up the HTC Trophy online on May 26th or in stores on June 2nd, like I said above, for $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. This is all, of course, if you commit to a new 2-year contract with Verizon. Since this is a smartphone, customers will, in addition to picking their talk and text plan, have to sign up for an unlimited data plan for an additional $30 a month. However, Verizon has just confirmed that they plan on eliminating unlimited data plans in lieu of tiered data plans. When this will officially go into action is still unclear though Verizon has stated that it will begin this summer.

This first Windows Phone from Verizon has experienced a tough start in the market. The HTC Trophy was originally expected to launch in March. However, the device was delayed several times for various reasons. Verizon's leaked spring outlook also originally revealed an April 15th release date. However, we saw that date come and go and saw no HTC Trophy. Many Verizon customers have been frustrated by these delays,, customers who are very interested in buying a Windows 7 device.

One good thing is that this Windows Phone will ship with Microsoft's "NoDo" copy and paste update. "NoDo" is Microsoft's first platform update and also includes improved application start-up and resume times. Verizon recently posted support articles that referenced Microsoft's own fixes for issues known to Windows 7 Phones. The HTC Trophy Windows 7 Phone from Verizon was seen out and about back in February with more photos leaking in March following confirmation that the device included all of Verizon's branding.

Full specs of the HTC Trophy include:

• 1 GHz Snapdragon processor


• WVGA 3.8-inch touchscreen


• Surround sound through SRS WOW HD


• 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash


• 720p HD video capture


• 16GB on-board storage


• Wi-Fi connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n


• Global ready


• HTC-hub customization via downloadable applications


• View and Edit Microsoft Office documents

Source: WinRumors - Verizon Windows Phone 7 HTC Trophy officially available May 26

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Problems Arrive with the First Windows Phone 7 Update

The very first Windows Phone software update is circulating the airwaves right now, and everybody is eagerly awaiting all the details on what it offers, how it works, how smooth it is or if it is a big waste of time. While this update has been highly anticipated since it was first mentioned, it has not, unfortunately, gone smoothly for everybody.

Thanks to recent reports about the new software update to the phone, there seem to be at least three distinct failure modes with two of them being fairly easy to fix. According to company estimates, about 10% of users attempting to update their software encountered a problem. Of those 10%, however, nearly half failed the update because they had a poor connection to the internet or lacked enough disk space.

Apparently, the update makes a backup of the phone's contents in case something awful happens. Everybody else probably falls under the issue affecting "a small number" of Samsung devices, an issue the company is working furiously to fix. In the meantime, the update has been turned off for those devices.

In lay terms, when you get the prompt to install your update, Microsoft will send you a nice message that recommends that you have the necessary hard drive space on your PC as well as a strong connection to the internet. Around 90% of users were successful in installing the update which is excellent news considering this is the very first update for the device.

Source: Engadget - Microsoft details Windows Phone 7 update problem, 'small number' of Samsungs affected

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Microsoft Sells 1.5 Million Windows 7 Phones

On Tuesday, December 21 Microsoft announced that it has sold more than 1.5 million Windows 7 phones in the first six weeks of sales. Unfortunately, those numbers represent the sale of phones to retail stores and carriers. The sales numbers of devices actually sold to customers are most likely much lower.

"Sales are ramping well as our reputation is growing for offering users a unique experience and are in line with our expectations – especially when compared to other new platform introductions," Achim Berg, corporate vice president of mobile communications at Microsoft, said in a statement. "With a new platform you have to look at a couple of things, first of all customer satisfaction."

This is good to hear because there were very disappointing sales numbers when the phone was first released. The Windows 7 phone was built up by the company but only sold 40,000 devices on their launch day. The phone was available through AT&T and T-Mobile. According to a market research source who tracks phone sales and such, Microsoft spent $100 million on an advertising campaign for the phone. Just to give you a comparison, Apple sold more than 2 million iPhone 4s in just the first two days.

Roger Entner, a Nielsen telecom analyst, said at the time that, "It's early in the game. Not every product surges right out of the starting blocks. The first Android phone was not a big seller at T-Mobile."

He continued saying that the Christmas season would really tell how well the phone would do. "We'll see what happens with Black Friday sales," he said. "They'll probably cut prices like everyone else does. It's the nature of the beast. The only one that doesn't do promotions is Apple."

Entner was right. Microsoft has been much more successful since the slow start. Selling 1.5 million devices in the first six weeks is an accomplishment considering the original sales numbers for the devices. Berg did not discuss the U.S. sales versus international, but he did say, “We know we have tough competition, and this is a completely new product. We're in the race – it's not a sprint but we are certainly gaining momentum and we're in it for the long run.”

Berg continued saying that Microsoft had “realistic” expectations for its Windows 7 phones. “We started fresh with Windows Phone 7, and it's a different kind of phone. Measuring for success is more long term than short term," he said.

He further discussed the Windows Phone Marketplace, which now has 4,000 apps and 18,000 different developers creating apps. "We're comfortable with where we are, and we are here for the long run; Windows Phone 7 is just the beginning," Berg said. Berg said that sales are “in line” with Microsoft’s expectations.

Berg promised that the company is planning on releasing several updates for the Windows 7 phone lineups over the next few months. The lineup was released in October. Five different Windows 7 devices are available in the U.S. from AT&T and T-Mobile including the HTC Surround, the LG Quantum, the Samsung Focus, the HTC HD7, and the Dell Venue Pro. It is expected that Windows 7 phones will be offered at both Sprint and Verizon by next year.

It will be interesting to see if sales really do well over the long haul. Microsoft seems very confident in the idea that their phones will be successful in the long term. It’s definitely no iPhone, but I believe that the Windows 7 phones will do well and that the addition of phones from Verizon and Sprint will cause the sales numbers to most definitely increase.

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Kin Studio Terminated for Good

Just recently, Verizon sent out a letter to their customers explaining that the Kin Studio will no longer be in existence as of January 31. They also explained that any Kin One and Kin Two users will be offered any 3G replacement phone of their choice up until March 31.

On May 13, 2010, Microsoft released the uniquely designed Kin One and Kin Two phones. The reviews of the phone weren’t all bad, but they weren’t very good either. A lot of the criticism about the phones surrounded the required data packages that users had to take out and the pricing of the different packages. Critics were saying that the Kin phones did have a few extra features, but there wasn’t anything too special about them, and they were being priced as a smartphone. The Kin phones simply could not compete with the other smartphones that Verizon offered. After only 48 days of being on the market, the phones were discontinued. It was estimated that only about 9,000 devices were sold in that time period.

In the official statement that Microsoft made about discontinuing the Kin phones, they said, “We have made the decision to focus on our Windows Phone 7 launch and we will not ship Kin in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our Kin team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from Kin into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current Kin phones.”

At the time Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Brenda Raney said, "Kin is still an important part of our portfolio," but obviously it wasn’t doing too well because Verizon quickly dropped the prices of the phones due to very low sales numbers.

On top of the phones being discontinued for almost six months now, the Kin Studio is closing as well. The Kin Studio is a cloud service that allows users unlimited storage of their photos, videos, and contacts for free on Microsoft’s servers.

Although the Kin Studio is being shut down, the phones will still be able to function; there will just be lots of key features that will no longer be available on the phones. The Kin phones will still have the ability to make and receive calls, text messages, write emails, browse the Web, and stream music via Zune Pass. They will not be able to deliver other features though like the extremely built up social media capabilities that the phones were supposed to possess. Kin users will no longer be able to update statuses, post photos, or leave comments on any of the social networking sites. Updates to the home screen of the Kin phones will no longer occur, the feed reader for RSS feeds will stop working, there will no longer be any over-the-air updates, and any data that users have stored via Kin Studio will no longer be accessible. Users will be able to access this data until January 31, so there is still time for them to transfer the data to their computer before the service is permanently closed.

Last month, Verizon announced that they will soon be offering the new rebranded Kin ONEm for $19.99 and the Kin TWOm for $49.99 with a two-year contract. The phones look very similar to the original Kin One and Kin Two, but these phones will be available as a straight feature phone. This means that customers won’t have to take a data package with the ONEm and TWOm.

A Verizon spokesperson said that the new Kin phones are being released to “provide an option for customers who liked the form factor of the previous Kin phones but want an Internet-capable device that doesn't require a data plan."

I think it’s great that Verizon is offering such a generous deal to current Kin users by allowing them to select any 3G phone free of charge. I think that it is good that Microsoft is finally admitting true defeat with the Kin One and Kin Two, and I guess we’ll just have to see how the Kin ONEm and Kin TWOm come out. It won’t take much for them to be a million times better than their predecessors.

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What You Need to Know About Microsoft's Kin

On Monday of this week, Microsoft introduced the Kin One and Kin Two, but a lot of people are wondering what exactly they need to know about the new phones. Well, the Kin appears to be aimed a younger generation, (CNET specifies ages 15 to 30 and describes that age group as the "the folks posting their every thought, sight, and sound to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube" as well as "young parents looking to upload all those adorable pictures of their kids and/or puppies." That, alone, should tell you a lot about the phone. As a matter of fact, instead of having a menu, when you turn on your phone, you'll have three main screens: contacts, built-in programs, and status updates from your social networks. Contacts and status updates come from Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and Windows Live.

Also according to CNET, the Kin looks a little bit like the Sidekick but runs on Windows CE instead of the Java-based operating system the Sidekick used. And it's certainly nothing like an iPhone, Android or Blackberry. If you're dreaming of adding all kinds of apps to your phone, keep dreaming. Microsoft says they're hoping the phone will fit your needs without the need or any additions. With that in mind, Microsoft is calling it an entry-level smartphone.

Each phone comes with Zune built in, which allows you to transfer music and movies from your computer and stream music on demand. Pictures can be uploaded to all social media sites with the exception of Twitter. They have web-based email capabilities, Exchange for business email, and POP and IMAP services.

Both phones feature touchscreens, bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and slide-out keyboards. The Kin Two is a bit higher end than the Kin One. It has double the memory (8GB), a larger screen and keyboard, the ability to shoot HD video, a better camera, and a stereo speaker verses the mono speaker on the Kin One.

The software is not completely compatible with Mac, but it does allow you to transfer music and pictures from iTunes or iPhoto. Kin One and Kin Two are tentatively scheduled to be released in May, but an exact date has not yet been set, nor has an exact price.

For more details, check out CNET's 411 on Microsoft Kin.

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Microsoft's New Courier Tablet

Whatever concept you had of what was cool in the tech world just got pushed to another level thanks to a new tablet from Microsoft codenamed Courier. This new double-screen tablet works as a day planner only way cooler.

Speculations about whether or not you will be able to run down to your local tech store and pick this thing up is still unsure considering this is only one of many different tablet prototypes currently in development from Microsoft. However, with the Apple tablet rumors being thrown around and the similarity Courier has to the upcoming E-reader/netbook from Asus, the tablet concept seems to be gaining more and more interest from consumers.

Courier appears like it could completely revolutionize personal business devices. There aren't a lot of details about what Courier can do. What is known is that, unlike Apple's tablet, it comes in a book shape with two 7inch screens with a built in camera and Wi-Fi. Information input is varied going between multi-touch gestures like pinching and flicking to using a stylus for handwriting and drawing.

It is unsure how Courier will handle things like e-mail or if it comes equipped with a microphone or webcam for things like video conferences or VoIP. But Courier does look like an outstanding replacement to the traditional pen and paper way of planning. Courier appears to fuse the best of paper planning with the two pages and large writing space with the best of a computer's planning capabilities to manipulate and index data.

What may come as a surprise to some is that the Courier tablet is almost a complete opposite to what people expect from Apple's tablet. People expect the Apple tablet to be an expanded iPod Touch having a 9 to 10 inch multi-touch display, iSight camera, microphone, Wi-Fi and 3G capability and run with either another version of Mac OS X or the iPod OS.

People and analysts have been talking about the Apple tablet for over a year now and yet there is still no information leak that even compares to the size of the Courier leak telling us what the device is going to be able to do. All info in this post have come from different rumors floating around and not hard evidence. This could mean that Apple's product doesn't even exist. However, if it doesn't it, one will exist shortly now that Microsoft has thrown their hat in the ring and given some decent details about Courier.

One question many people will be asking Apple is "Why is this device even necessary? Why is it a better option than a laptop/smartphone combo?" Apple's tablet doesn't appear like it can replace either device and doesn't appear to be the same as a netbook either. So by now you may be asking yourself "What the heck is this Apple Tablet thing?" Well the answer is that it is an entertainment device used to watch video, surf the web and play games.

Courier, alternately, can be recognized almost instantly as a device that would be useful to someone. It takes your average, everyday two page paper planner and digitizes it for the first time ever. Courier takes advantage of data mash-ups by allowing you to flick your contacts on a map and find their location. You can also take notes easily with the reasonable screen size and you also have web access right at your fingertips. It also appears that Courier will have nothing to do with the Windows Mobile or Windows 7 Operating Systems. Instead it will have a completely new operating system designed specifically for the Courier.

But these details do not mean that the tablet market is going to be completely dominated by Courier or that Apple's tablet can not catch up. It simply means that the two devices are completely different. If you are looking into Courier then you are more likely looking for a smartly designed day planner which will more than likely be able to do things like play videos and other entertainment apps similar to a smartphone. If you want something more geared towards having fun then you are going to want to look more into Apple's tablet. Apple's tablet looks to have more entertainment value and a weaker enterprise value. These factors, business and fun, are going to be the deciding factors in which one you decide to buy when, and if, either one of these tablets comes out.