Origami revealed [Archive]

Everlost_MI

03-09-2006, 03:31 AM

MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com) has posted the information on Microsoft's mysterious Origami device. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11732808/) Here's the gist of it...

...an ultracompact computer running Windows XP with a touchscreen and wireless connectivity...Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless access.

It's everything a full computer or laptop is, minus the keyboard. It has a 7-inch touch-sensitive screen that responds to a stylus or the tap of a finger...For users who don't want to jot down notes with the stylus, the Origami has a built-in program called Dial Keys that splits a standard QWERTY keyboard into pie shapes on the lower corners of the screen so that input can typed — or thumbed in.

Two models from different manufacturers are expected to hit stores shelves by spring, and Microsoft says they'll be about an inch thick and weigh less than 2 1/2 pounds — about the size of a large paperback book.

It will run on a full version of Windows XP, the same operating system used on larger tablet PCs, and newly developed software called Windows Touch Pack will handle touch-screen functions. Future editions will support Windows Vista, a version of Microsoft's flagship operating system that's due out in the second half of this year.

It won't be called Origami. Instead, the company is marketing it as a category it's calling the ultramobile PC, said Mika Krammer, a marketing director for Microsoft's Windows mobile unit...

The screen is wide, bright and easy to see, even in low light...the units are designed with USB 2 ports, one could be plugged in as needed. Other units ...had SecureDigital Card and CompactFlash memory card slots, along with jacks for connecting digital cameras, headphones and speakers.

The battery power averages about 2.5 to three hours, and it will have up to a 60-gigabyte hard drive.

...the device is expected to retail for between $600 and $1,000.
Thoughts?

Meusli

03-09-2006, 03:37 AM

Any info on how powerful they will be, will they run halo? Also what drive device does it come with, DVD? So many questions about this device, which I would get if I was rich, but I am not so I'll just have to look at them :)

NACIONAL

03-09-2006, 03:50 AM

what is interesting is that those things won't be made by microsoft alone, but by many manufacturers....

this could be good in the long haul..

Morratut

03-09-2006, 03:50 AM

I can't see me getting one. Only because I don't what I used it for. Sometimes I just wish I traveled more. I'd have a need of a PSP,DS and one of these :D

Dr Quincy

03-09-2006, 03:57 AM

It's not going to have the most games-friendly UI is it.

That said Christ why doesn't my PSP come with a 60GB HDD for heaven's sake?!

baz

03-09-2006, 04:10 AM

A bit big, battery life a bit short... those are my impressions from the video/specs.

ldi222

03-09-2006, 04:10 AM

With two USB ports, your gamepad will be a pretty game friendly UI, and playing AOE with a stylus wont suck too bad I would imagine.

bapenguin

03-09-2006, 04:10 AM

Man...Everlost...one of these would be GREAT for E3!! :D

Dr Quincy

03-09-2006, 04:22 AM

With two USB ports, your gamepad will be a pretty game friendly UI, and playing AOE with a stylus wont suck too bad I would imagine.

Great. I can bring a USB keyboard and mouse along too for those "Counterstrike on the move" moments.

TrackZero

03-09-2006, 04:38 AM

"The screen is wide, bright and easy to see, even in low light..."

I always love hearing that. No shit you can see it in low light, otherwise it wouldn't be displaying anything. It's what it looks like in bright light that's the issue.

Demize99

03-09-2006, 04:42 AM

Needs more battery life... If it can't run for me all day, I'm really not interested. Hence my lack of mobil devices beyond a simple palm pilot.

Noiz

03-09-2006, 04:54 AM

I dunno, at only an inch think it wouldn't be beyond reason to dock an external battery pack to it that takes up the entire underside of the system. Adding an extra inch width would be fine.

Buddha Lotus

03-09-2006, 04:58 AM

RAMONE!!!!!!!!!!!!.. Bring me another piece of tech junk!!

motorhappy

03-09-2006, 05:04 AM

I think all of us have imagined some sort of super-mobile pc, but I'm not sure this is it yet, but this comes much closer.

The on-screen keyboard was kind of intriguing in the video on the Microsoft site (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/hardware.mspx) , and the size is right.

But, the 2.5 hour battery life seems really hard to deal with, especially if it would mean lugging around a huge adaptor. If it had some kind of tiny retractable adaptor I may be able to deal with it.

Everlost_MI

03-09-2006, 05:06 AM

Man...Everlost...one of these would be GREAT for E3!! :D

Just one? ;)

Taco

03-09-2006, 05:07 AM

Personally if I need a mobile Windows XP for $600+ I'm buying a laptop. If I need something smaller and more portable I'm getting a PDA. Not sure where this fits in.

Borys

03-09-2006, 05:11 AM

Thoughts?

I want one :D

Noiz

03-09-2006, 05:30 AM

Personally if I need a mobile Windows XP for $600+ I'm buying a laptop. If I need something smaller and more portable I'm getting a PDA. Not sure where this fits in.

Ummm. Right in the middle?

A PDA style device with a decent sized screen and full PC functionality is just what I've been after. Reckon I'll be grabbing one pretty quickly.

Namielus

03-09-2006, 05:47 AM

I'm definately interested in purchasing one, I didn't want to fork out the money for a bulky table pc. This little tablet might be just right. I'm just hoping for a nice/stylish docking station so I can use it around the office.

Kamalot

03-09-2006, 05:47 AM

I have a tablet called the HP TC1100. It is a tiny, tiny laptop with a removable keyboard, small enough to misplace it under a magazine. It comes with pen-input, wifi bluetooth, etc. In essence, it is the same thing as one of these. Runs Full XP, 10 inch screen.

I use it every day, in fact, I am using it to write this.

http://www.hp.ca/products/static/notebooks/tc1100/images/tc1100.jpg

As a gaming machine, it has a Geforce 4 in there. It plays Guild Wars and Unreal Tournament. I was hoping to play a bunch of games that require only the mouse but it is difficult to find good mouse-only games that work well on the system. So far, the only ones that remain on the HD are Bejeweled and one called Fate (http://www.fatethegame.com).

It is dissapointing that more Tablet PC games weren't released. Perhaps with a new platform, there will be more emphasis on building pen-friendly games. The DS has proven that using a stylus for gameplay can be fun, we need to convince PC game makers of the same thing.

Truth be told, I use the Tablet for work and for surfing, music, movies, etc.

I play games on the DS or the 360.

Wraith

03-09-2006, 05:49 AM

It is an interesting concept. Better than a PDA, if you don't need it to fit in your pocket, and smaller than a laptop, so you can use it "on the go." But I don't travel all that much, and don't have WiFi access that often (when I'm not at work or home). But it'd be a much better mobile browser / media player than existing PDAs / PSP / DS.

But yeah, battery life has to improve. That's pretty much on-par with laptops. Sacrifice some processing power, if you can make it last longer between charges.

bone_matrix

03-09-2006, 05:50 AM

I was intrigued by this until I saw the battery life. I'm not happy with my PSP because of its battery life. Its just not long enough. But, if they could extend the battery, and it has a good processor and decent RAM, I'd look into this. Maybe get work to buy me one.....

fitbabits

03-09-2006, 05:51 AM

Just one? ;)
Three, please. :)

bapenguin

03-09-2006, 05:52 AM

Three, please. :)

Lol. Time to make some calls. ;)

fitbabits

03-09-2006, 05:55 AM

Lol. Time to make some calls. ;)
Get to it, bap. :)

Taco

03-09-2006, 05:56 AM

I just don't see the purpse for for something in the middle, at least for me. Especially when the cost and battery life for this thing is taken into consideration.

bboy

03-09-2006, 06:06 AM

Taco

03-09-2006, 06:08 AM

That's kind of my perception on it. No clue though if it will be a failure. Even if it was a turd, MS could probably sell it.

jacktion

03-09-2006, 06:14 AM

"The screen is wide, bright and easy to see, even in low light..."

This sentence reveals that the article's author does not know much about tech and portable devices. Everyone knows that these screens get Easier to see in low light. It is bright light where they are difficult to see. The fact that he doesn't know this makes his journalistic skills highly suspect. It is like if an article on traveling abroad said "I like Russia, but oddly, no one here speaks English".
This guy is a chump.

PIPBoy3000

03-09-2006, 06:19 AM

The battery life really needs to be extended. I think that's one of the problems with devices based on PC-style technology - everything's designed around having lots of power (relatively speaking). Laptops seem to be the current "sweet spot" in terms of battery hours, cost, input, screen size, and capabilities. Unless there's a killer app for this device, I'm not sure it'll be a bit success.

keeks

03-09-2006, 06:30 AM

I'd be all over this like a German tourist on a Thai child prostitute if it had a significantly longer-lasting battery. Sadly, today's battery tech is nowhere near that. Here's hoping that fuel cells and whatnot are commercialized soon.

Sl1pstream

03-09-2006, 06:35 AM

Origami = retarded son of Tablet PC.

Prediction: This will also be a dismal failure of a platform.

/Another 2-3 generations and we may be there but sadly not yet.
/Don't let tech-lust rape your wallets!
/Don't become beta testers for new platforms!

/don't drink alcohol
/watch out for the gnomes
/fear the light
/blah blah blah

Tablet pc's are large and cost a lot. If this has the same power, cheaper and smaller and they do something about the battery time I can't see it failing.

MosBen

03-09-2006, 06:41 AM

It seems to me, just through anecdotal observation over the years, that mobile devices are always inefficient with battery life in their first versions, and these are no different. The people for whom this is the perfect sized device will buy these first versions, but eventually the battery life will creep up to more standard levels, my guess somewhere in the 6-8 hour range. Seems to me that if they could get battery life up to there this thing would be perfect for watching movies on a long flight.

Vandenh

03-09-2006, 06:59 AM

Super screen... but bad battery life. I guess I would use it for video playing and work of course ;) Games? Maybe....

Citizen Philip

03-09-2006, 07:21 AM

I was going to say.. great for students! Provided they buy one for each class, because the battery will die just as you finish.

Just another piece of techcrap. I love watching my two friends sit and talk about their PDAs, because really, without the gadgets what exactly would be the reason for geeks to talk?

51|RandoM

03-09-2006, 07:24 AM

/don't drink alcohol
/watch out for the gnomes
/fear the light
/blah blah blah

Tablet pc's are large and cost a lot. If this has the same power, cheaper and smaller and they do something about the battery time I can't see it failing.

This is large, and costs alot, compared to other things in the same area of functionality.

For all intents and purposes it is a rebranding of tablet pc, with another layer of OS on top of XP---because XP obviously wasn't fat enough already, lol.

Somebody fairly high(in both rank and consciousness it would seem)at Microsoft has a boner for tabletpc and just won't give up. What they seem to be missing is that if it doesn't have 10+ hours of battery life and fit in my pocket, I might as well just get a CHEAPER and FASTER ultralight notebook, since I'm going to have to throw either of them in a backpack or bag anyways.

Noiz

03-09-2006, 07:27 AM

Really hope they come with decent IR capabilities; they could be the ultimate remote control.

RandomViolence

03-09-2006, 07:47 AM

I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm for the advance of portable devices beyond keyboard and stylus interfaces to true touchscreen-only support. Whether this is the solution, we'll see. Fix the battery life, but otherwise color me impressed.

HardScores

03-09-2006, 08:06 AM

My thoughts from my blog (which is funny now that I read it in retrospect)

2.28.2006:
"There is a video on the website - featuring the handheld playing Halo. OMFG ROXXORS. Seriously, what did we expect from Microsoft? Of course it will have a crappy gameplay video of Halo on it. If that picture is the actual system, it will fail miserably - maybe as bad as the WonderSwan or Gizmondo. Try to imagine playing a FPS like Halo with that crappy button layout, even though it has a DS rip-off stylus. What's with the incredibly small buttons? Will anyone over 100 pounds have fingers skinny enough to NOT press two buttons at once by mistake?"

Wraith

03-09-2006, 08:09 AM

What they seem to be missing is that if it doesn't have 10+ hours of battery life and fit in my pocket, I might as well just get a CHEAPER and FASTER ultralight notebook, since I'm going to have to throw either of them in a backpack or bag anyways.

Are there any ultralight notebooks available in the $600-$1000 price range? With decent processors? I'd be interested, if there are, but I haven't seen anything in this price range. They're always $1500+.

gzsfrk

03-09-2006, 08:24 AM

Just doesn't really sound like something that I'm in the market for. I mean, isn't it just an oversized pocketpc?

Roc Ingersol

03-09-2006, 08:35 AM

3 hours?
fuck that noise.

danhoo

03-09-2006, 08:48 AM

Yeah, I don't really understand the audience for this device. Hi-tech geeks already have alternatives to this that are available now. Mainstream consumers have the PSP or the ultraportable laptops. As someone's already pointed out, it feels like TabletPC 2.0.

I saw some news report on this device where a marketing representative said they found (to their surprise) that soccer moms claimed they'd be interested in the Origami so they could watch movies or surf the web in their minivan while their kid plays soccer. Meh.

vallor

03-09-2006, 08:50 AM

"The screen is wide, bright and easy to see, even in low light..."

This sentence reveals that the article's author does not know much about tech and portable devices.
This guy is a chump.

I wouldn't be so quick on the chump bit. Remember the first GBA Color that used the reflective backlight screen techo crap? The same sort of tech that was later used in some of the handheld computers from MS and Palm?

That thing SUCKED in dim light and there were a lot of complains in both markets about how terrible the backlighting functionality was.

Since it seems like this device could replace someones pocket PC type device it seems reasonable to assure people that it is using some sort of active screen lighting technique rather than the old reflective style that so many people hated.

KhitomerRouge

03-09-2006, 09:02 AM

Gizmodo's got the best take on this:
Ignoring the fact that the just revealed Origami platform is indeed a small, electronic device, thereby forcing a compulsory moment of craving, we are thoroughly surprised at how accurately Microsoft and Intel have targeted a segment of the computing market completely barren of potential customers.

Klade

03-09-2006, 09:11 AM

This thing looks too big to be sexy, and has too short of a battery life to replace the blackberry or PDA. I really wonder who can use this thing if after 2.5 hours on they have to plug it in somewhere..

Mason

03-09-2006, 09:15 AM

I don't know if this will work or not, but I think it's a good thing for MS to keep experimenting. Sticking with what works is a sure path to obsolescence.

We really need better battery technologies, though.

Phanto

03-09-2006, 09:32 AM

That said Christ why doesn't my PSP come with a 60GB HDD for heaven's sake?!

Ask Sony ;)

Metal Jesus

03-09-2006, 09:42 AM

I already have a PSP that does all of the mobile stuff I need: surf the web, check email, listen to music, watch movies, play games, look at pictures. And it only costs $250 and is smaller and lighter.

Thanks anyway.

mister_slim

03-09-2006, 10:30 AM

Interesting. Not something I'm interested in though. I'm surprised they're putting it out with Vista. MS was talking up how much better Vista was as a tablet PC OS, but apparently that'll have to wait. I'll have to see it in person to really judge it. Based on the size of the buttons it seemed larger than a paperback book, which might be a usability problem. The touchscreen QWERTY keyboard is interesting, but I don't see it working very well.

fitbabits

03-09-2006, 10:35 AM

Xerxes

03-09-2006, 11:25 AM

Halo 2.5... Only for the Origami.

GrinR

03-09-2006, 12:00 PM

Battery life is insufficient. It's also too big and too heavy.

bapenguin

03-09-2006, 12:17 PM

The battery life is pretty much on par with most laptop battery life. The problem is this device is designed to be even more mobile so the battery life needs to be better.

baz

03-09-2006, 12:34 PM

The battery life on this has to be at least 4.5 hours for me to be interested. A pretty arbitrary number, but thats about where I see portable device becoming not frustrating to use. If I need to take the charger with me to work, its a no buy.

I have a pretty big commute, so I love portable tech, but its got to last a return trip, plus a bit of use during the day to be useful. Ideally it should last me 2 trips, but I can live with charging it every night. I've got a DS, PSP, MP3 player, laptop... a portable entertainment device really has to do something right to get my dollar at the moment, and I'm pretty sure I'm representative of their target market.

There are other requirements like ruggedness (go the DS!), a scratchproof screen (fuck you PSP), but you can only really judge those when the product hits the market.

Magnanimous Gnome

03-09-2006, 01:28 PM

Magnanimous Gnome

03-09-2006, 01:29 PM

/don't drink alcohol
/watch out for the gnomes
/fear the light
/blah blah blah

It's the gnomes with alcohol that you really have to watch out for. :cool:

baz

03-09-2006, 01:36 PM

Yeah, count me among the unimpressed. How many dismal hardware "ideas" is MS going to put out on the market? They've nearly all bombed, and the only one that hasn't completely bombed (the Xbox) is losing a lot of money. You'd think someone would get the hint after awhile, but we all know MS doesn't work that way.

They have to do something with their piles of cash... can't just leave it all out of the economy :D, may as well employ a whole bunch of engineers.