J Allard, otherwise known as Dr. J Allard, otherwise known as the man we miss from the deepest recesses of our cold, black hearts, has re-surfaced today as the driving force behind a neat-looking new gadget from Microsoft.

It's called the "Courier", and is a cross between a tablet PC and, well, a Nintendo DS. or anything else that uses a stylus, really. As you can see, it functions like a notebook, flipping open into "pages", with input able to be driven either by touch-screen or by using a stylus.

Allard, who was one of the key players in the birth of both the original Xbox and the 360, is "spearheading" development of the Courier, which for us, is reason enough to be interested.

But then, there's also the device. A large touch-screen device with a stylus and two screens? There's the potential for this to be a HD DS-type device if anybody ever takes gaming on the platform seriously. Like, Panzer General on this? I'd be in heaven.

More pics and info over at Gizmodo.

Courier: First Details of Microsoft's Secret Tablet [Gizmodo]