Print - As Expected, Origami is Just a Small Tablet PC

As predicted, Microsoft's mysterious Origami project is simply a hardware reference design for a new generation of small Tablet PC devices now called the Ultramobile PC. First revealed at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) in 2004, these devices will run on Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 and feature 7-inch touchscreen displays. Though touch screen support will be built into the Tablet PC software included with Windows Vista, XP had to be augmented with additional software for this feature to work.

Ultramobile PCs are true tablets, without a keyboard or pointing device. Instead, the onscreen cursor is controlled via a stylus, as with any Tablet PC device. Three relatively unknown companies in the PC realm, Asustek, Samsung, and The Founder Group, will release Origami-based devices between April and June this year.

Uncomfortably sized between a PDA and a more typical mobile PC, these Ultramobile PCs will be marketed as specialized ultra-mobile computing products that perform a number of tasks including personal information management, music playing, and even gaming. Like true PCs, they will include hard drives and wireless capabilities.

A Samsung representative said that the Ultramobile PC would take off in the market where other Tablet PCs did not because they offer, for the first time, a feature set and price structure that is impossible to duplicate on full-sized mobile PCs. Origami PCs will cost $599 to $999, about mid-way between a typical PDA and a typical mobile PC.

Microsoft is bullish about the devices' prospects. "We believe that Ultramobile PCs will eventually become as indispensable and ubiquitous as the mobile phone today," said Microsoft vice president Bill Mitchell. "The Origami project is really our first step toward achieving a big vision." It may be useful, however, to compare Microsoft's comments about these devices to comments made about the original Tablet PC, which still hasn't taken the market by storm over three years later. Also, it's notable that no major PC makers, such as Dell, HP, or Lenovo, are among the companies pursuing Ultramobile PCs. Perhaps they've been disappointed one time too many.

Another hurdle is battery life. While users are accustomed to multi-day battery life on PDAs, first generation Ultramobile PCs will struggle to achieve even four hours of battery life. Microsoft says it hopes to achieve "all day" battery life within a few years.

Ha, I share in your less-than-stellar enthusiasm of the device, Paul. YATPC (Yet Another Tablet PC).

Paul echoed my thoughts exactly when he pointed out that Microsoft also had high expectations for the Tablet PC but it hasn't made much progress in the market after three years. I don't expect that Origami (a "sub-Tablet" PC with a price of $600-$1000?) will make much progress, either. Instead of trying to carefully gauge the market and determining what people really want and need, Microsoft's attitude seems to be "if we build it, they will come".

Asustek and Samsung are unknown in the PC arena? Isn't Asus a tier 1 mobo manufacturer? And aren't most of those Dell FPDs we all have on our desks mostly Samsung?

Still, it's nice to have options, and this device will certainly serve a certain niche. I'm willing to bet, though, that most people will wait "a few years" for better battery life. OTOH, kudos to Microsoft for at least branching out, even if "we believe that Ultramobile PCs will eventually become as indispensable and ubiquitous as the mobile phone today," is ridiculous marketing-speak. It's hard for me to imagine any portable computer being as "indispensable" as my cell phone.

Boo to Microsoft for such a BORING product. Yay to WindowsITPro.com for the site redesign.

A new form factor isn't big news? Finally a semi-portable device comes out that can actually DO SOMETHING instead of weighing down people with tons of devices and still you gripe. I will bet that the apple idi0ts on this site haven't even seen a tablet, nevermind anything else innovative.

It's a start. The reason tablet PC's never took off was because they were, and still are, nothing more than laptops with twisty screens and a stylus. Give the Ultramobile PC some time. It has the potential to be awesome.

"A new form factor isn't big news?" It's not a new form factor. It's another Tablet PC. "Finally a semi-portable device comes out that can actually DO SOMETHING instead of weighing down people with tons of devices and still you gripe." Laptops and PDAs can "DO SOMETHING." Take off the Microsoft blinders. "I will bet that the apple idi0ts on this site haven't even seen a tablet, nevermind anything else innovative." And this, my friend, is where you prove you're another blinded Windows fanboy who hasn't actually learned about history, as you've completely forgotten about the Apple Newton from the early 90s that kicked off this whole tablet thing in the first place. Haven't seen an innovative tablet? We were using tablets when you were still using Windows 3.1. This pretty much sums up Origami: http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/798.html

Wish I could take credit for this, but this sums up Bonch and his Fanboi ilk perfectly "I would just like to point out that Mac & other Linux based systems are just as vulnerable as a Windows machine. What they are all vulnerable to is ME ATTACKING THEM WITH A CHAINSAW AFTER LISTENING TO THEIR UNBELIEVABLY BORING OWNERS WITTER ON ABOUT HOW WONDERFUL THEIR OS IS FOR HOURS AND HOURS! Get a sodding life people! It's a bloody operating system, it's a tool, it's not your bloody girlfriend. Ok, ....... for some (Bonch) of you it is your bloody girlfriend or at least a close substitute. Bozo The PixieKiller" Love it......

ha ha ha newton, yer killin me! you must be older than I thought (12). by DO SOMETHING I mean run software on the O/S it was written for, and not in Virtual PC on a MAC.

P.S. It's not called "Origami" anymore. That would be too good a marketing name for Microsoft. They're now called UMPCs (short for Ultra-Mobile Personal Computers). Real catchy, eh? Just like how "Avalon" became "Windows Presentation Foundation." Microsoft is hell-bent on sucking the life out of everything and making it real corporate and bland.

"It's not a new form factor. It's another Tablet PC." You obviously don't understand what "form factor" means. Let me educate you. It has nothing to do with uniqueness; it's all about size. For example, Shuttle SFF ("small form factor") PCs aren't much different than normal PCs, except in size. Would you criticize Shuttle for inventing a PC that is much smaller than most PCs? If not, then lay off the Ultra-Mobile PCs; it's the same concept. Congrats; now you know what form factor means.

God, Windows fanboys can be moronic. Please learn to write proper English. "You obviously don't understand what "form factor" means." Actually, I know exactly what it means, and introducing an ugly Etch-A-Sketch that runs Windows XP isn't new. "Let me educate you. It has nothing to do with uniqueness; it's all about size." And the "UMPC" (snicker) isn't new in this regard. You guys are just mad Microsoft is on its way out. Calling the iPod a "doorstop" when it's the #1 digital media electronics device shows how bitter you are about the whole thing. Kudos to Apple for beating the abusive monopoly at something Microsoft couldn't cheat to win at. :) No illegal, coercive OEM deals this time around.