It's official: Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has shelved a project to create a tablet-style, dual screen device that could be used for productivity or entertainment. Codenamed Courier, it had industry watchers and the blogosphere buzzing amidst speculations that the arrival of Courier would help drive down the price of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) tablet or even ebook readers like the Amazon Kindle. It would have been a show-down of tablets, but that's not going to happen now.

As expected, Microsoft declined to detail why it decided not to pursue this project in the end. According to Frank Shaw, who is the corporate vice president of communications at Microsoft, "It [Courier] will be evaluated for use in future offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time."

For more on this story:
- check out the article at Network World
- check out the article at the Wall Street Journal 

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