Microsofts secret computer tablet emerges on the Web,but is it real?

If its real,that is. The device,code-named Courier,showed up on the popular technology blog Gizmodo.com under the headline First Details of Microsofts Secret Tablet. Microsoft neither confirmed nor denied its existence. We do not comment on unreleased products, company spokesman Doug Free said.

He wouldnt even say whether Microsoft was working on a tablet,which is a type of computer on which information can be input by touching fingers and/or a stylus directly to the screen.

There are a broad range of products always under way, Free said,none of which he would describe. If the tablet unearthed by Gizmodo is a fake,its certainly an elaborate one. And its features have sparked a lot of buzz in the personal computer world. If it is a hoax,they should look into making it real, said analyst Allan Krans of Technology Business Research Inc. It looks like a cross between the Kindle,the iPhone and a tablet.