There seems to be a ton of attention for Microsoft’s latest product, so I thought I’d throw in my 2ยข. Microsoft’s Origami project produced their latest attempt to reinvent the mobile PC, now dubbed the “Ultra Mobile PC.” (which BTW is something Intel has been working on for some time) They should’ve just called it the Tablet Mini, but I digress. What’s new about Origami is a 2-fingered touch-screen interface, otherwise it’s just another tablet. (not to mention it’s slower, has a low-res screen and is generally less of a PC than the tablets of 3-4 years ago) Perhaps this will change once the first commercial products are released. The real key to making this work will be cheap CPUs with decent mobile performance. (something you’re not likely to find in a sub $1000 product) On the other hand, the small form factor, light (approx. 2 lbs) weight and lower price could be what many tablet users have been waiting for. If the hardware vendors can extend the battery life, this product might actually get off the ground.
TechThink
An IT geek's weblog
Here’s another good shot of the UMPC/Origami concept (samsung) courtesy BBC News…
The problem is not the price it is the size and lock of keyboard. If they made a computer that was as large as possible with a touch type keyboard yet still would fit into a standard jacket pocket it would be well worth $1000 to $1500 no problem. The problem is that these to me are small tablets and tablets are not that popular. The tablets that sell well are the ones with touch type keyboards like the Toshiba. Computer hardware designers should realize that most of us do not want to use a pen but rather a touch type keyboard and we want the device small enough to carry wherever we go BUT NO thumb keyboards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! those are band-aides to poor form factor designs.
I would have to agree, mostly. The one thing I really don’t like about the UMPC is that it’s based on a pressure sensitive grid like most PDAs. This makes it possible to create the virtual thumb-board, but also removes the best feature of the tablet. (the fact that your palm doesn’t screw up your writing when you inadvertently touch the screen with it) Personally I’d like to see a convertible version of the Toshiba Libretto that’s still not too thick. However, I don’t think those would really catch on either. Keyboards on anything with a screen less than 10″ become compressed to the point that they become difficult to use. So far, the only real solution I’ve seen are keyboards that fold up when they aren’t in use to fit the form factor of the device.