He was working on the Courier, a dual-screen tablet, with conflicting gossip he’s either left voluntary or was pushed out by CEO Steve Ballmer.
Currently Allard is still down as the chief experience officer and chief technology officer for the Entertainment and Devices Division on Microsoft’s website, reports Eurogamer. It was ZD Net that claims a ”pretty reliable tipster” told them he’s not there anymore.
”Allard was a key guy on Xbox and organizationally he was set up to drive innovations like Courier. He was one of the few there that really was willing to think outside the box and has people working on top secret projects off the main campus…” a source said.
”He was regarded as being a bit (Apple CEO Steve) Jobs like in that he understood the importance of design, not just function. Hence if he departs Microsoft would lose an important design advocate and innovator.”
Maybe he was just too much like the Apple boss that Ballmer got nervous? In any event it’s a tragic loss for the Xbox camp that J Allard is gone - if he’s gone that is.