Microsoft Origami tale continues to unfold

This weekend saw a rapid unfolding of rumors about Microsoft's mysterious Origami project, spurred in part by the company's launch of a cryptic viral marketing site for the concept, in part by comments from Robert Scoble that Origami represented an actual device, and, of course, in large part due to a fascinating video showing a handheld, wireless, touch-screen/keyboard device that appeared -- and later disappeared -- on the internets (though, of course, it's still mirrored in countless places). Now that the weekend has passed, the Microsoft spin machine is busily reshaping the origami narrative. In addition to causing the video to magically disappear, the company has confirmed that the video is indeed an authentic representation of an "early prototype" of Origami, but insists that the images are about a year old. Meanwhile, word is out that the unveiling of Origami scheduled for Thursday will most likely show off a "technology," and not a finished product. Which sounds about right to us. Given that Microsoft brass recently discussed specs for an "ultramobile lifestyle PC," it seems pretty likely to us that what the company will unveil later this week will fit that description. Regardless, props to Microsoft: for once, the company has actually managed to steal Stevie J's thunder, building a buzz that's almost buried rumors about Apple's forthcoming announcements.

[Ashish @ Feb 27th 2006 9:43AM]

At least when Steve announces something is usually ready to ship.

[TZK @ Feb 27th 2006 9:44AM]

Isnt steve (the other MS ceo) also involved in the a project called VULCAN that makes a similar sort of device? Of course, I havent heard from that company in a year or more, at least.

Follow:
http://www.flipstartpc.com/

[I'm With Stupid @ Feb 27th 2006 9:47AM]

Hmm, so Apple will be introducing some new products tomorrow and, two days later, Microsoft will be introducing a 'technology' that will, presumably, ship in some sort of as of yet unidentified device(?), at some point in the future?

You didn't hear 'buzz', just "ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" as people drift off to vaporware dreams.

[no3rdw @ Feb 27th 2006 9:55AM]

Yeah, I was hoping for an actual product to be announced :( I want an ultramobile PC now, not 1-2 years from now!

Still, I can't wait to see what both companies will be announcing. Anyone have a link to a mirror of that video?

[John Doe @ Feb 27th 2006 10:00AM]

"At least when Steve announces something is usually ready to ship."


*coughs*bull**** *coughs*

[untitled @ Feb 27th 2006 10:00AM]

Go here http://www.d-kitchen.com/launch_center.htm

then click on ENTER MAIN SITE
then click ENTER at the bottom
then click on WORK
then click BRANDTHEATER
then click MICROSOFT ORIGAMI

[Stu L Tissimus @ Feb 27th 2006 10:04AM]

Meh. finally. I've been waiting for some devices like the supposed Origami or Apple tablet. Companies haven't seemed to understand until now that this is the type of device their consumers want. PPCs/Palm are too underpowered for things as simple as browsing the internet (Have you ever used Pocket IE? The renderer is so. freaking. slow.) and notebooks are too big.

[untitled @ Feb 27th 2006 10:05AM]

:@ They took it off! It was a their promo video, showing off the origami.

[untitled @ Feb 27th 2006 10:05AM]

Ahh Here we go, enjoy: http://creativecoremedia.com/mso.swf

[Dave @ Feb 27th 2006 10:19AM]

The Origami is already in production and availible for purchase: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/articles/ppc6700.mspx

[Jon @ Feb 27th 2006 10:28AM]

#9 ...that clearly is a Pocket PC mobile phone...nothing of the scope of the Oragami.

The video looks interesting. I really hate the fact that MS never gets credit for innovation. This seems like a great idea. Something smaller and less expensive than a notebook but larger and more powerfull than a PDA. It looks like it makes good on Tablet PC features.

[James @ Feb 27th 2006 10:29AM]

This is a fat ugly OQO clone.

[saboola @ Feb 27th 2006 10:33AM]

I want this, seriously. It's like someone finally got it right. It's like a tablet PC, but highly more useful and rugged. The ability to attatch hardware and change function of the unit on the fly. Man, this thing could be fantastic.

[khamel @ Feb 27th 2006 10:35AM]

keep it priced competitively with the nokia 770 and i could go for that. windows isn't going anywhere so the more products that use a unified interface the better (for me).

[no3rdw @ Feb 27th 2006 10:43AM]

"keep it priced competitively with the nokia 770 and i could go for that."

Yeah... right... I was thinking 'keep it priced competitively with a decent LAPTOP'. These things are not going to be cheap. But if they are done right, I would sell my laptop and go to a device like this in a heartbeat. Now I'm glad that I help off on buying a tablet PC, after looking at the video, this thing is exactly what I wanted. And my god, it looks like the one in the video has GPS.

If the final devices are under... $1500 I'd be happy. ;)

[dave95 @ Feb 27th 2006 10:47AM]

That thing is not innovative. Coming from a company that has so much money, I would expect better, not another Branded TABLET PC.

Looks Heavy
Ugly

Wait for another company to lead us into the future with something smaller, thinner and sexier!

[David T @ Feb 27th 2006 10:47AM]

remember how a few weeks back, Gates was saying how his vision for computing for the masses is based on having a smart phone which people can plug back at home to turn into a computer? methinks this is something of a similar concept.

really awesome, if true (and if they can get some real power and battery life into a device of that size).

[Matt @ Feb 27th 2006 10:51AM]

I disagree. This product provides the bulk of a laptop with the screen resolution of a PDA--in other words, the worst of all worlds. In the world presented in that video, people wear jackets with big pockets in the summer, carry messenger bags, and all want to alt-tab to an MP3 player running on the tablet PC.

How did this happen? I can see how the meeting went down at Microsoft: 'I know, people will buy TabletPCs if we put a scroll-wheel on them, just like an iPod! And if we show hip people using them in ways that we think are just like real people!'

Okay, maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but I attend a school from which Microsoft hires 50% of the graduating computer science and human-computer interaction students, and I know that the people they hire all have the same really awful ideas.

[apeguero @ Feb 27th 2006 10:57AM]

Okay??? But will I be able to run Mac OS X86 on it?? :)

What a crappy idea. I kinda liked that ultra-portable that Vulcan Ventures was showing off a couple of years ago. Too bad it vaporized like I'm sure this one will.

[Sasha Gelbart @ Feb 27th 2006 11:01AM]

I love this MS future... With Origami, you are free... from ever actually working again... Seriously, was anyone working in that "http://creativecoremedia.com/mso.swf" ad? Other than on the viral marketing campaign for the vapor-lifestyle?

I mean it is like Vice magazine had a baby with American Apparel, went over to MTV2s house and signed up for Friendster... I mean MySpace...

The gang is hanging out in the RV... making annoying music... KFed rocks it harder than that gang...

They then beam each other(after sketching a mustach on the tablet -- that's rich)

Nature boy... in the requisite old Ford Bronco... is out in the wilderness -- 5 minutes from the city -- taking insipid photos of the skyline...

A yuppie couple are laying about their backyard designing moronic t-shirts... and really fretting over the color options...

I can't go on anymore...

I wan't three of them ;)

[Matt @ Feb 27th 2006 11:01AM]

Let me add--I have three TabletPCs near my desk here that have roughly the same dimensions and keyboard and they are all INCREDIBLY USELESS. Several grad students and staff members have tried them out and haven't been able to make them useful.

Of course, more shapes and sizes for computers is better--it's just that I think this shape-and size will be useful to very few people.

I detest the fake hipness presented in that video too. You may think it's just for marketing, but it's not: those are the people the developers/designers had in mind when they designed it. The people who MS hires think the world is made up of people who move to the middle-of-nowhere to design t-shirts and write music. (I'm exaggerating a bit--they'll throw in a few other people, but that's the main focus). These are not-so-hip people who think they are hip, and who think the world is made up of people just like them. Despite being 'trained' in areas in which they're supposed to go out and ask people what they really need (human-computer interaction and interaction design), they make projects that merely confirm their own biases by talking to very carefully selected 'focus' groups and using what they say to support a design/concept they've already thought up.

There's nothing wrong with that, really, if they came up with good ideas--but those are rare. Instead we end up with a 5lb, very non-pocketable computer running WinXP TabletPC OS with a low-resolution screen (making handwriting useless) an underpowered CPU for the tasks the system is facing, insufficient RAM, and a pricetag that few can afford. (One that makes Macs seem reasonably priced!)

I think the larger-sized TabletPCs are actually useful and good--but these mini Tablets are completely useless as they just don't have the right size/functionality match to make them worth carrying them around.

The question to ask is: if I have to carry a bag to carry my computer, why would I carry an underpowered computer (an Origami) when I can carry a slightly larger and more reasonably priced laptop (sub-notebook Vaio, iBook, etc.)

[umijin @ Feb 27th 2006 11:05AM]

I've been waiting for EVER for Apple to get off it's butt and release a truly mobile mac. Hell, even a 1kg laptop would be an improvement. I doubt Apple has anything more than a video iPod coming soon - so if MS can make Origami a capable internet/PDA machine with a simple interface - more power to them.

Unfortunately, I can't see MS doing this without making a kludgy OS.

[no3rdw @ Feb 27th 2006 11:11AM]

How can you possibly call it underpowered when you have no idea what the hardware is capable of yet?

And for everyone who dislikes the uses of the tablet shown in the video... remember not everyone uses their laptops as workhorse machines. My laptop is sued 90% of the time for web browsing and media playing. The other 10% is for simple financial software, mapping software, and ocassionally word proccessing. If it was a tablet, I imagine I'd be using it about half the time for drawing. The uses shown in the video are exactly what I would be doing. This looks like an incredibly fun device, and would probably not be targeted towards businesspeople. For that, you can use a laptop or a WindowsMobile device.

[no3rdw @ Feb 27th 2006 11:14AM]

What would be AWESOME though, is if Apple suprised everyone and announced a similar device tomorrow. It's not going to happen, but imagine if both companies had these announced in the same week. :D

[sracer @ Feb 27th 2006 11:15AM]

#19 (aka Matt) is right on the money. This thing is the worst of both worlds. I ditched my iPAQ 2215 PPC in favor of an SMT-5600 WindowsMobile Smartphone because the PPC was too big for what it did. But the same functionality in a candybar phone form factor was just right.

I've seen T-Mobile's MDA PPC-phone and THAT is much closer to a useful origami-like device!

It seemed to me that the origami video was selling a lifestyle not a particular device...because it was so out of touch with reality. That device is ONLY useful for a person who lives that lifestyle. So they'll sucker people into buying an origami so that they buy a little bit of that lifestyle. Ah, marketing. LOL

[Matt @ Feb 27th 2006 11:18AM]

no3rdw,

I have a very good idea what the hardware is because Intel has been pushing 'ultra-mobile PCs' in the last few months, and I would imagine that MS is going to follow their lead. These PCs are marginally-improved versions of a Sony U70. I'm reasonably certain that it will run the low-power version of the Core Solo.

I'd be willing to bet, but I have no basis for saying, that it will cost somewhere between $1500-$2000, have 256 or 512MB RAM, and a moderate-sized hard drive (60GB).

And also, it does sound like it would be a perfect device for you--but you are among a small minority of people who spend half the time on their computers drawing. Clearly you are real, but for MS to hype up something that very few people will use is absurd.

[OddManOut @ Feb 27th 2006 11:26AM]

Well, I watched the video and it looks cool (the device I mean...the fake-@$$ hip-ness iriated me as well...it was worse than the usual Apple drivel...) and all...but be honest I'm slightly underwhelmed.

Prexactly what in that video is outside of the capabilities of a current tablet of similar size...say...the Flybook

http://www.flybook.biz/en/?section=generic&page=specs">http://www.flybook.biz/en/?section=generic&page=specs

Now of course, as others have mentioned, price is key. If the whole 'Origami' angle is that you can have all that was pictured for LESS than a low end laptop (say under $500...with the keyboard and carry case and a good battery STANDARD), that I would say is newsworthy...

All in all though, I think I've done virtually everything (technological) in that video with a sharp Zaurus and/or various HPC2000 based devices...so while whatever 'Origami' proves to be *might* be a real advancement in technology (like it finally working as WinCE/HPC(pro)[2000]/PocketPC/WinCE.net x.x/Windows Mobile/Windows Tablet were supposed to over the last 5 years) it's not precisely 'innovative' IMHO...

[somethingnew? @ Feb 27th 2006 11:41AM]

i don't care if they create the coolest looking device in the world, anything they release will still be running a very shitty Windows operating system. the problem has always been with their OS - the concept has been done time and time again.

it will take an apple os to make this type of device both cool and functional.

[David T @ Feb 27th 2006 11:51AM]

Matt: "I disagree. This product provides the bulk of a laptop with the screen resolution of a PDA"

"we end up with a 5lb, very non-pocketable computer running WinXP TabletPC OS with a low-resolution screen (making handwriting useless) an underpowered CPU for the tasks the system is facing, insufficient RAM, and a pricetag that few can afford"

how do you know ANY of these things? unless i'm missing something, NO ONE except the source even remotely knows the specs. did you see the video? i'm willing to stick my neck out and say the screen looks at least 800x600, possibly even higher res than that. it also looks to be about the thickness of half a laptop, and because the screen is smaller, it's obviously won't cover as much surface area as well.

the point is that it should sync easily with your PC, media center extender, camera or whatever else there is out there. this is already true to some extent with PocketPCs - i use mine as a media player, phone, GPS, and laptop (i'm sure you all can guess which one i have now), but the crippling thing is screen size and resolution.

in truth, a 1Ghz processor, 512MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, 1024x768 is enough for almost any task *most* people use their laptops for.

[Matt @ Feb 27th 2006 12:08PM]

David,

I know with certainty that it's non-pocketable after watching that video. The specs I will admit I'm pulling out of my ass, but given what's out there already, and knowing that MS doesn't make their own hardware, I'm pretty confident in them. Look at the OQO or Sony's ultra-portable PCs. Bump up the specs to use components you can purchase in the next couple months--that's what I'm betting this will be.

As for the resolution, have you tried TabletPC at 800x600--it's awful! 1024x768 is better--it's barely usable. Similarly, 1GHz TabletPCs are far too slow--I've found few people who can tolerate that speed.

I've seen reference to a $500 pricetag on the web. That's even worse than what I'm describing. Go ahead and try to find the components that will make a usable TabletPC for $500. If you can, I'll send you $500. It's impossible that MS would have access to some super-secret fast chip that no one else would have heard of, so for $500, it's going to be very very slow.

[John Doe @ Feb 27th 2006 12:16PM]

"The video looks interesting. I really hate the fact that MS never gets credit for innovation. This seems like a great idea. Something smaller and less expensive than a notebook but larger and more powerfull than a PDA. It looks like it makes good on Tablet PC features."


You mean like the Apple Newton? Microsoft doesn't innovate end of story. That being said Apple stopped really innovating after Jobs came back to Apple. Sorry but as Nice as the iPod is its a MP3 player...that is all. The iMac? All evolutionary hardware and designs not revolutionary. Apple hasn't tried anything that is risky and cutting edge in a long time. Microsoft? Has never.

[Jeff Lewis @ Feb 27th 2006 12:18PM]

I've noticed an interesting trend here.

The people who dislike Microsoft immediately make the most negative assumptions, then expand on those assumptions to conclude that Microsoft is doing something stupid, evil or insane.

The people who don't dislike Microsoft, but neither care for Microsoft seem to go 'well, interesting, but we don't know much yet, let's wait and see' or at most, 'this is vapourware'.

The people who like Microsoft make the most positive assumptions and want one NOW.

In fact, we know very little about this device other than a movie of a mockup. How about waiting a few days until it's announced and then we'll see.

[Harbinger @ Feb 27th 2006 12:37PM]

Re: 20
Totally nailed it.

The real question though, can it run homebrew and play ISOs? ;)

[jeff @ Feb 27th 2006 12:48PM]

rumors? buzz? i didn't even READ the engadget post about it, and i heard absolutely nothing else on the matter.

MS spin machine running at full capacity wasn't even a blip on my radar.

interesting.

"building a buzz that's almost buried rumors about Apple's forthcoming announcements"

Hey, engadget: how many articles did you publish last week about origami? ...and how many about apple's forthcoming announcements? i dont see much thunder-stealing going on. :P

[Stephen @ Feb 27th 2006 1:58PM]

looks like this concept came out in 2001 and this is the fruit of that labor. from microsoft's website:
http://members.microsoft.com/CustomerEvidence/Common/FileOpen.aspx?FileName=8998_National_Semiconductor_Conceptual_P.doc
original forum post where this was found here:
http://forums.macrumors.com/converttoguide.php?postid=2181478

[rafael @ Feb 27th 2006 2:16PM]

god forbit competition comes a knockin... get a life guys, everyones out to make money. and hell this seems like a step in the right direction, i bet if these come out at the price of $500 they will sell like no tomorrow for their portability and usefulness.

scoble let it leak that the devices wont look like the ones shown on the video, Different OEMs will be making them. and that it will be anounced during CEBIT. we will only find out a lil more on march 2nd and the weeks lead up to Cebit 06~

[Mike Street @ Feb 27th 2006 2:44PM]

http://creativecoremedia.com/mso.swf

That sh*t is on point. I'm loving how they are using it. Sign me up I want one

[Matt @ Feb 27th 2006 3:14PM]

I randomly had a conversation about this device yesterday with one of the developers working on the project. Here's how the actual conversation went -

Dev:"I've been really busy lately. Microsoft is going to be rolling out a new mobile device soon."

Me:"Cool! it's going to work on wifi/gsm/uma/evdo/umts/3g?

Dev:"Uh...no...We're working on having later versions to possibly work on those systems."

Me:"Well, it's going to 802.11g right?"

Dev:"Uh.....no"

Me:"It's going to be at least GSM/CDMA?"

Dev:"Uh.....no"

Me:"So no cell service and no 802.11g?"

Dev:"For now...."

[zorg @ Feb 27th 2006 4:05PM]

Dialogue at MS HQ

Droid1: Sirs, we would like to show you our design for a
small, cool, mobile device and get a budget to keep
working on it.

Billg: Good. I here that Steve J may intro a video ipod
next week. Do you have anything small we can announce
on the same day?

Droid1: We are still in the concept stage.

Steveb: [throws chair]

Droid2: There was a similar predecessor project that we
could prototypes from right now, but it doesn't have any
current wifi/3g/bluetooth/evdo/whatever connectivity
because it is so old.

Billg: Perfect. We'll do an announcement using that.
You'll stand up and say that it will soon have whatever
everybody's clamoring for.

Droid2: But, sirs, there wouldn't be any connection
between what we're conceptualizing and the prototype.

Steveb: [throws chair]

Droid3: Nice action, sir! As my late colleague was
about to add, we do have some developers lined up who
want to do aftermarket for anything we make, so we can
just have them stand up and say that they're going to
make it all happen.

Billg: Perfect. I like the timing on this. I'll lend
you my painted wood model that wowed everybody when I
flashed it at a press conference. You might want to
have a half-dozen copies made of it by next week, so we
can say a different version of Windows Mobile-Vista is
running on each one. By the way, what do you call the
device?

Droid3: It's called Isaac, sir. John Sculley
suggested the name, and the form factor.

Steveb: [throws chair]

Billg: We've got to get some fresh faces around here.
And some sexy names. Like "Windows Foldo." Because it
folds like paper. Let's get a team working on it.

[Mark @ Feb 27th 2006 4:08PM]

The question is what will be "available" first: this or the xbox 360?

available = I can walk into a store and buy one

[siq1ne @ Feb 27th 2006 4:26PM]

Yes, but can all of your PalmPCs and TablePCs play HALO!?!? Come on now! This is definately worth 1500+ to play halo.

[I feel sorry for anybody who didn't understand it was sarcasm]

Anyways, to be honest, nobody knows anything about this yet really. And this video is just some leak, am I correct? Let's just wait and see..

[Justin @ Feb 27th 2006 4:36PM]

" I want this, seriously. It's like someone finally got it right. It's like a tablet PC, but highly more useful and rugged. The ability to attatch hardware and change function of the unit on the fly. Man, this thing could be fantastic."

Sooooo... it's a TABLET PC. So far, based on that video, it's nothing more than a tiny tablet PC. Even the fake screen on the thing was the XP version of Alias Sketch, a demo of which is included with many tablet PCs.

Besides, if you ask me the 'Origami" has already been done - the OQO, Flybook, FlipStart, Fujitsu P1500 series, and oh yeah, Nokia 770.

Unless there's doing something drastically different, it's going to get lost as yet another "initiative" that MS pooped out on the world. Yeesh.

[mike @ Feb 27th 2006 4:54PM]

Regardless, props to Microsoft: for once, the company has actually managed to steal Stevie J's thunder, building a buzz that's almost buried rumors about Apple's forthcoming announcements.
---

Yeah, right. Whatever comes out of Tuesday will have you forgetting about MS's lame attempt at a GameBoyAdvance-killer

Playing Doom with 4 buttons.. I love it

lmfao

[Matt @ Feb 27th 2006 5:09PM]

Does Microsoft think we are nuts? First thing I thought when I saw the vid was all the DRM it will probably have that will stop us from being able to do anything without first using some kind of genuine windows advantage style system (anybody else get that pop up now and think ah sod it I cant be bothered?)
I bet it will allow us to only use it in certain rooms and if we want to use it in more places then we need another license for each area. If its got anything like Vista style UI it will only let us do the same old simple file manipulation and just dress it up a bit whilst making sure there is no easy way for us to give it any of the functionality that we might actually want from the menu's

Microsoft have let me down too many times in my life and I wouldn't trust them with anything anymore because as soon as its worth something to them they will screw us over.

[Joseph Blough @ Feb 27th 2006 5:13PM]

WHO THE HECK CARES ABOUT MICROSOFT AND THEIR STUPID ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT "ORIGAMI"? THE THING SOUNDS SO LAME THAT BY THE TIME IT GETS TO MARKET NO ONE WILL GIVE RAT'S @SS. These guys have lost their touch for innovation and any hint they are stealing any thunder from Apple's announcements is reckless and moronic. I have been an MS fan for years and what I see is a company in disarray, trying anything to be innovative, yet they have become dinosaurs. I hated Apple for years as well with their silly toys. Turns out that they're not so silly anymore. In fact, Jobs and Co. are the true leaders in innovation. I pity Gates and Ballmer. They have completely lost it. And Vista? An absolute, unqualified rip off of Mac OS X. Give me a break, people. Does anyone really believe that MS is going to "steal Apple's thunder" this week or anytime soon? No friggin' way. Origami = crap.

[bramick @ Feb 27th 2006 5:39PM]

This should be interesting competition. Apple has the buzz going. Can MS top it?

[Rubbinz @ Feb 27th 2006 6:57PM]

"for once, the company has actually managed to steal Stevie J's thunder" Yeah... OK that's complete bullshit. Did Billy G pay you for that line or did you pull it out of your ass?

"the unveiling of Origami scheduled for Thursday will most likely show off a "technology," and not a finished product." So, the actual product, if any, wont be ready for consumers until 2009-2010. At least when Steve takes the stage and shows off what he has, it's ready to ship and you can use it.

All in all, this could turn out to be the next invisible Phantom and never reach the stores.

[David T @ Feb 27th 2006 7:04PM]

Matt: yup i agree its not pocketable, but show me a device which is pocketable AND which you can find a high res screen. the sony and oqo run 800x600 and 800x480 respectively, so that's the baseline i guess. i don't think a tablet is the point of comparison: this screen is probably only 5 - 6", unlike at least 12" for tablets.

the point i think is not what the device is, or even what it runs, but that it allows you to carry your computing power anywhere. it's all about sync, the whole ecosystem (to use a very big marketing word). sure, i can get an oqo today running winXP, but i won't be able to work easily, switch seamlessly between a big desktop, laptop, and oqo. MS, i believe, wants to be able to do that with this origami thing. i'm betting activesync will get a overhaul when this is announced.

[Nick @ Feb 27th 2006 7:13PM]

#5 John Doe wrote:
> "At least when Steve announces something is usually ready to ship."

*coughs*bull**** *coughs* <

Leave it up to an Apple-hater/MS apologist to call B.S. on a fact. Do your research and you'll see that when Jobs announces something, most of the time it is shipping as of that moment.

[Ciaran Rooney @ Feb 27th 2006 7:45PM]

#43 You clearly don't understand the purpose of a technology news website, it is to inform people of announcements and upcoming products, if you don't care about this article then don't post!

I think you would be far better of at www.apple.com where you can hear all the positive things you like about apple and their products. If not then grow up and post a constructive argument next time rather than an inaccurate and immature rant.