Saturday, March 11, 2006
As had been widely suspected (and previously reported on this site), Microsoft unveiled the details behind the "Origami" project last week at CEBit in Germany. The project is the launch of a new breed of hardware device, the "Ultra-Mobile PC"
A cross between a tablet PC and a Portable Media Center, the device appears to be a hyper functional competitor for the soon to be announced video ipod, that will feature a 4" landscape widescreen. While the portable media abilities of the device cannot be understated, it is really the computing power that will make or break this device. Running special touch pack software on top of a full edition of Windows XP, the question is can any device that does not include a keyboard seriously take advantage of the power of running the full version of XP in a mobile device.
Either way, I don't believe this will have much effect on Microsoft's strategy for Pocket PC type devices. Like the Tablet PC this is simply a new breed of hardware, and only time will tell if there actually is a need for it.
A cross between a tablet PC and a Portable Media Center, the device appears to be a hyper functional competitor for the soon to be announced video ipod, that will feature a 4" landscape widescreen. While the portable media abilities of the device cannot be understated, it is really the computing power that will make or break this device. Running special touch pack software on top of a full edition of Windows XP, the question is can any device that does not include a keyboard seriously take advantage of the power of running the full version of XP in a mobile device.
Either way, I don't believe this will have much effect on Microsoft's strategy for Pocket PC type devices. Like the Tablet PC this is simply a new breed of hardware, and only time will tell if there actually is a need for it.