Pioneer Studios, an experimental group within Microsoft tasked with designing and incubating novel "consumer experiences," has been closed down, with the team disbanded and redistributed, and its offices vacated.
From Ars Technica:
From Ars Technica:
The group's most famous project was the Courier tablet concept, a twin-screen folding tablet designed for note-taking and Web browsing. Pioneer Studios also contributed towards the ill-fated KIN phone, and worked on pieces of Windows Phone 7, Xbox, and Zune.Microsoft kills off consumer-focused Pioneer Studios
Pioneer Studios was an explicit attempt by Microsoft to do something different. The swanky offices were located in an area of Seattle populated with startups, some distance from the company's main Redmond campus—an attempt to distance the team from the company's corporate bureaucracy, and instead foster a culture of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
