Microsoft has unveiled its 'Origami' project, a paperback-book sized portable computer, which is a hybrid between a laptop PC and a several mobile devices that the world's biggest software maker hopes will create an entirely new market. While Microsoft will not produce the hardware, they are the driving force behind getting this product to market.Weighing between 2-2.5 pounds with a seven-inch touch-screen, the new "ultra-mobile" PCs (UMPC) use microprocessors from Intel and run a modified version of Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. It is expected that Samsung and others will release the first Origami computers sometime in April.
Manufacturers will position the UMPC as a handheld organizer, an MP3 portable music player, a mobile television receiver, an extra storage device for digital photographs, a games device and a notebook PC. In its statement, Samsung believes it will be more successful than the full-sized tablet notebook PC with touch screen, launched four years ago.
The new machines will connect wirelessly to the Internet and carry full-sized hard drives, but they are not intended to replace current PCs. The one thing missing is a keyboard. Instead, it uses a 7-inch touch-sensitive screen that responds to a stylus or the tap of a finger. However, there are USB ports, so a keyboard could be added if needed.
The battery averages about 2.5 to three hours, and it will have up to a 60-gigabyte hard drive. While it's not compact like an iPod, it does play music, store and display photos like a digital picture frame, and show films and TV shows. For someone sitting on a plane, some models have a stand in back to prop up the device for easier viewing. According to one analyst, the new unit will not appeal to technophiles, but it isn't designed to. It is being aimed at the consumer market. I am not sure that this unit will succeed as many manufacturers think it will. Several of the devices that it's supposed to replace are pocket size which are part of their appeal and their success. This unit will certainly not fit in anyone's pocket.
Microsoft was also the driving force behind the Tablet PC (both the original and the reborn types), and they have been less than successful. And history shows that the first version of any new Microsoft product has been less than stellar. On the positive side, it does offer many features under one roof so a user doesn't have to go out and buy several different products. No word on price yet, although Microsoft says it is shooting for the $500 price range.
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