So what is Origami? We'll tell ya.

Yesterday we had a chance to get Otto Berkes on the line, the man behind Origami at Microsoft, as well as Dustin Hubbard, Group Manager for Microsoft's Mobile Hardware and Application Development team. We had a few things to ask about what the deal is with UMPCs and Origami, here's what we learned: Origami is a term originated from Berkes that doesn't necessarily refer to a device or specific hardware specification, per se, but to an ultramobile PC running Windows Tablet (or Vista, later) and enhanced Microsoft Touch Pack (a suite of apps and utilities meant to optimize using Windows by touch, and not necessarily only by stylus). Touch Pack consists of a launcher app that better groups and opens apps based on a touchscreen interface; DialKeys, a thumb-based text input system that uses those two onscreen touch inputs on either side; Touch Improvements, a suite of environment optimizations to make using Windows with your fingers a less painful experience; and some other stuff, like Sudoku and an Origami-optimized Windows Media skin to kind of round out the whole thing.

Otto made it pretty clear that Microsoft is aiming UMPCs based on Tablet with Touch Pack at the general consumer, and not necessarily as another device for the already gadget-laden mobile office -- we'll be seeing (and have already seen) initially launches by the likes of Samsung, Asus, and Founder, so keep an eye out for those today. We did ask about Alexandria, the other Microsoft buzz-video / project we saw the other day, and it sounded like a system MS was working to ease acquiring music and movies online -- is Alexandria a service that might be an iTunes-killer, perhaps? We don't know (we're working on finding out), but we do finally know what the hell Origami is, and now you do too.

[andrew smith @ Mar 9th 2006 3:36AM]

It still doesn't seem all that worthwhile.

[Wayde @ Mar 9th 2006 3:40AM]

What a let down after all that hype. What about games though on this thing?

[aj @ Mar 9th 2006 3:40AM]

it seems pretty worthwhiled too me, i like it its new and thats all i need

[Peter @ Mar 9th 2006 3:41AM]

So, nothing new here

[EmileG @ Mar 9th 2006 3:41AM]

Let's hope that Apple joins in the fray with their patent pending touchscreen app and the Intel connection... Maybe it will get worthwile then, 'cause this pretty much doesn't rock my boat!

[aj @ Mar 9th 2006 3:42AM]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/default.mspx

[Jeffrey @ Mar 9th 2006 3:42AM]

Can you make agent "Bob" dance with the two thumb wheel on-screen grease-pads? This device is 100% guaranteed chick-repellent material. A toy for people who can't find the world around them just quite fascinating enough. Get a laptop and do some work. Use a smart-fon if you have to, but this gizmo-no should stay in a hospital. and should stay made by Fujitsu.

[wako @ Mar 9th 2006 3:43AM]

If in the next few years they can actually really make the price below 1000, and not have a piss poor battery life of 3 hours, I would definately pick one up.

However, I cant wait till I can play solitaire, watch a movie, surf the web and read engadget on the crapper :D

[Marc @ Mar 9th 2006 3:43AM]

What a disappointment!

Does anybody else feel let down?

[Stoo @ Mar 9th 2006 3:57AM]

I feel let down. I was for once excited about all the buzz behind this thing, thinking it was a piece of microsoft hardware. I should've known. Now I'll stay true to my one love, Apple products, which even when disappointing are still better than this...

[Chris McDowell @ Mar 9th 2006 3:58AM]

It's too big and bulky looking for me. I say this will go along with tablet pc's. Nothing really new and exciting other than you get to control windows with your stylus/finger.

[Mark E @ Mar 9th 2006 4:02AM]

what's the point?

[JT @ Mar 9th 2006 4:07AM]

Boy, do they need lessons in marketing. By the way I came across this, I guess it's old news for you all: http://www.angel.cc/ms-ipod-parody-real.wmv

[Simon @ Mar 9th 2006 4:09AM]

I like it and I hope I can get this "suite of apps and utilities" for my Flybook.
That 'all screen' device the MS woman showed off was too good to be true. Anyway, I love my Flybook and some tools made especialy for its touchscreen would realy rock.

For anybody who's got a device like the Flybook, go take a look at Adobe's Sketchbook. That's a great paint tool made especialy for touchscreens.

[RyanH @ Mar 9th 2006 4:10AM]

I for one am disappointed. And I for one will stick with my Etch-a-sketch. It will last longer than 3 hours.

[Steff @ Mar 9th 2006 4:16AM]

Despite all the new technology that these devices have, they are just like the Vaio U which got canceled after a short periode of time two years ago...

[abigsmurf @ Mar 9th 2006 4:31AM]

If these are $500 I can understand all the hype.

If they're $1000 (which seems more likely at this stage) then the whole Origami thing is stupid. I notice they're keeping a lid on the pricing of all the models...

[Dr Doom @ Mar 9th 2006 4:33AM]

#17: Why would you want XP on a PDA exactly? The whole point of Windows Mobile is that it cuts it down to the essentials.

And how exactly has Microsoft all but abandoned Pocket PC??

Although I won't be buying one myself (not yet at least), it's dangerous for so many people to write off a new type of product before it's even launched. Give it time to settle into the market and then draw a verdict. Products can CREATE niches, they don't have to necessarily fit into a pre-existing one.

[William Murray @ Mar 9th 2006 4:39AM]

It seems to me like the waters have been muddied here. The reality of the device, from both a hardware and software perspective, is intriguing, but it's a far cry from the UMPC ideal (sub-$500 price, all-day battery, etc.). I know these goals will be achieved with time, but it needs to become more obvious how these devices will otherwise differ from existing ultraportables like the Motion LS800, OQO 01+, and Fujitsu P7000.

If the answer is simply "the Microsoft Touch Pack," then I'd like to know whether it is more like Microsoft Power Toys or the MCE interface? If it's the former, could traditional tablet owners install it on hardware that's running the tablet OS? They might otherwise be put off that the tablet experience warranted additional "apps and utilities ... to optimize using Windows by touch" that they were not entitled to. If it's more of an abstact layer like MCE's 10-foot interface, then the niche that these devices are going to fill needs to be more clearly defined to the average consumer.

In the meantime, I'm going to put my plans to purchase an LS800 on hold until I know more about Origami. And while that bodes well for UMPC adoption, it's bad for the companies that are trying to sell existing tablet products to consumers.

[Berkana @ Mar 9th 2006 5:41AM]

Doesn't anyone remember why the Newton failed? It was too big to be a palm-top, too small to be a laptop. It was in the dead zone between.

Fast forward to now: processors are faster, color is pervasive, and Microsoft basically re-introduces the Newton, but with DRM pervading the device so they can make you suckle their music teet while they reach over your back and pull bills out of your wallet.

It's still too big to be a PDA or a digital music player (small is the way to go: check the Nano), and doesn't seem to be able to displace laptops as a serious productivity device, nor blackberries as text communication devices, nor cellphones. A gaming device it is not; that would pit it against the PSP and Nintendo DS. What it is is an indirect iPod competitor that's too big. And if early reports are any indication, Vista runs like a glacier on anything but the fastest hardware. If this thing will run Vista, good luck. I'm disappointed already. In other words, it's the Newton, all over again.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Mar 9th 2006 5:44AM]

So are they Tablets, or are they touchscreens, or did someone come up with a clever way to have the touchscreen disable when the stylus was in proximity to the tablet, and you get the best of both worlds? I am assuming that they are just touchscreens with a plain old stylus with no pressure sensitivity, or tilt sensing, but you guys got to play with them, what are they?

Both Tablet technology and touchscreen technology have their benefits. To my knowledge, no one has ever combined the two. I am not sure you even could, since a pressure sensitive tablet stylus might be rough enough on the touchscreen surface to damage it. However, if someone pulled off marrying the two technologies, then that would be a real news story.

[ZSX @ Mar 9th 2006 5:54AM]

Video interview with Otto Berke (who seems a pleasant chap) here (.wmv):

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=46&p=5&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=2fdf4cbc-7ef4-433b-a875-089b6b3c5436&u=http%3a%2f%2fdownload.microsoft.com%2fdownload%2f7%2fc%2f2%2f7c2a8d5f-2dcf-4aee-9f75-97026f2aa04b%2forigami_otto_berkes_2006.wmv

[L. M. Lloyd @ Mar 9th 2006 6:24AM]

Good god, to everyone that keeps parroting that this is just another Newton: Did you ever own a Newton? The Newton was nothing like this. It was much more like a Palm or Pocket PC device! It had its own OS, and required special apps written just for the Newton. You couldn't just move files from your Mac to the Newton, and keep working on them in the same program. You couldn't load Photoshop, or Pagemaker, or Quark onto your Newton.

The reason the Newton failed wasn't size! It failed because people couldn't figure out what purpose it served, and because it never sold enough units to encourage a large enough software market, so that the apps would come out to show people uses for it. The Newton was the same sort of product as what is now called a PDA. It had very limited functionality compared to the desktop machine it was suppose to be an extension of.

None of that is going to be a problem here, because it runs XP, and a large portion of the planet's population already knows what purpose XP serves. There is no need for users to wait for software vendors to come out with special software for these devices, because they can load the software they use every day on it as soon as the devices come out. Saying that is just like the Newton, makes as much sense as saying every laptop on earth is just a copy of the Newton! If Apple fans want to say that Apple invented the PDA with the Newton, fine, that is an argument that I suppose can be made. However, this isn't a PDA. It makes no logical sense what so ever to say that a Palm is just like a Newton, and then say this is just like a Newton as well, since this is nothing like a Palm!

How exactly is this like a Newton? Did the Newton have media player functionality? Did the Newton have Wi-Fi? Did the Newton have Bluetooth? Did the Newton have a Lithium-Ion battery? Did the Newton run Windows? Did the Newton have a full web browser? Oh, wait, I know, the new UMPCs are going to run off AA batteries just like the Newton, right? The Newton was a handheld device with pen input, it wasn't the first, it wasn't the most successful, and it wasn't the most advanced. So what does it have to do with the UMPC? Oh right, the Newton was made by Apple, so every handheld device in the world (even the ones that came before it) are just lame copies of the Newton. I forgot!

[Chris S @ Mar 9th 2006 6:47AM]

As a PocketPC user I can't see the point.

I can remote-desktop to my PC to get the "Windows in your hand, touchscreen" experience. It's really not that useable. Tried using messenger with a stylus? :/

To be useful everywhere the PPC needs a small-screen app for each task.
Laptops are too bulky to be useful everywhere, and there's the effort of getting it out and setting up.
This is trying to fill the void, but is it really a problem? What can you do that you can't do by walking a few paces to your real, big screen, full keyboard computer?

[Luke Newcombe @ Mar 9th 2006 7:01AM]

It's a neat concept but I'd rather wait on Apples product line as I'm disillusioned with what Microsoft can deliver affordable software and hardware. Take the new OS as an example - 6 versions if Vista - no way am I upgrading to it as its going to be expensive and we all know what MS is like with security!

[Namarrgon @ Mar 9th 2006 7:24AM]

You can take it with you. You know, outside. Where your real, big screen, full keyboard computer can't go, and to places you couldn't be bothered lugging a laptop.

A smartphone can do this even better, sure, but have you ever tried browsing the web on a smartphone? Tedious. Playing (e.g.) RTS or FPS games? Editing Word docs on the go? Watching movies? Browsing a map? Lots of things smartphones just aren't very good at, due to lack of storage, lack of power, lack of screensize, you can do with one of this - and do it in places where you wouldn't be bothered carrying your laptop.

I'm interested. Maybe when price is lower, battery life is better, and weight is down a bit more.

[gab @ Mar 9th 2006 7:30AM]

Re: #24

"How exactly is this like a Newton? Did the Newton have media player functionality? Did the Newton have Wi-Fi? Did the Newton have Bluetooth? Did the Newton have a Lithium-Ion battery? Did the Newton run Windows? Did the Newton have a full web browser? Oh, wait, I know, the new UMPCs are going to run off AA batteries just like the Newton, right? The Newton was a handheld device with pen input, it wasn't the first, it wasn't the most successful, and it wasn't the most advanced. So what does it have to do with the UMPC? Oh right, the Newton was made by Apple, so every handheld device in the world (even the ones that came before it) are just lame copies of the Newton. I forgot!"

Wow, you must not have been alive or old enough to be around Newtons when they were released.

All the things you list, are very recent technologies. When the Newton came out, having a fax modem was kick-ass. Having a modem to post on BBS was kick ass. Having a touch screen and stylus was kick ass... Everything in your list has become popular in the last 5 years. I know they have been around longer, but did you try to buy a bluetooth keyboard in 2000? How about a WiFi router? How many models could you pick up from your local electronics store?

My point is that you forget that the newton was released in 1993. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Newton

[VAStateOfMind @ Mar 9th 2006 7:45AM]

#24 needs to lay off the caffeine for awhile. No, the Newton was never designed to be a UMPC, and Apple admittedly was never quite sure what to do with the poor little machine. The Newton was really only ever an extension of your desktop's calendaring/contact functions. HOWEVER, there is one thing that Newton nailed that Palm nor any of the wannabes that followed ever succeeded in emulating: handwriting recognition. By the time Apple axed production of the Newton, the MessagePad 2100 (running, I believe, Newton OS 2.x) had spot-on handwriting recognition once the system got used to your writing style. I truly miss that kind of input, and I don't think any other product since has come close. My .02 cents, of course...

[L. M. Lloyd @ Mar 9th 2006 7:50AM]

Yes, thank you #27, that was my whole point! Saying the UMPC is just a lame copy of the Newton, is basically like saying the Prius is nothing special, because the Model-T did it first. Well, they both had wheels.

I not only was around for the Newton, I sold them, and did a little programming for them. I also had a GridPad, and a couple other ancient pen-based portable devices. I would say that if anything, the UMPC owes more of its history to the Grid or the Dauphin than the Newton. Even then, I hardly think a DOS or Win3.1 device have much in common with a modern computer, but at least they had a full OS.

The whole "this is just a Newton" thing annoys me, because it is the typical machead illogic that Apple once put out a device that had a touchscreen, and you could carry, so every single device made from that point on that you can carry and that has a touchscreen is obviously a copy of Apple's product. Palm OS devices, a copy of the Newton. Pocket PC, a copy of the Newton. Tablet PCs, a copy of the Newton. UMPC, a copy of the Newton. It makes no sense and that was my entire point.

[Abby @ Mar 9th 2006 8:02AM]

Newton stayed for six years... 93 to 98, stll it failed. Do we need to argue more?

It was miserable with handwriting recognition as the wikipedia link by gap suggests.

Also, as Lloyd pointed, Newton didn't sync wid a mac. How can u guys miss the fact that UMPC runs full-blown XP.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Mar 9th 2006 8:03AM]

Look #28, just about anywhere you go on the internet, you can't read a single story about UMPC without some machead commenter spouting off about how this is just MS trying to copy a long dead failed Apple device. Maybe you think I need to lay off the caffine, but about the 100th "this is just the Newton all over again" comment I read, I suddenly felt the need to vent about how stupid a comparison it is.

I know, it makes me a mean, bad person to say anything that might be construed as negative about Apple or any of its products, but that is just how it has to be sometimes.

[L. M. Lloyd @ Mar 9th 2006 8:12AM]

Oh, and the Newton had great handwriting recognition for some people, awful recognition for other people, just like the Pocket PC. I know people who picked up a Newton, and almost immediatly had a 98% recognition accuracy, but I also know people who had one for years, and it never really got the hang of their writing style. By the same token, I have a friend who's Pocket PC can perfectly recognize every single scribble he puts in it. The damned things are doing good if they can get a single word out of my writing.

Part of why the Newton had such a good reputation for handwriting recognition, was because it was very good at recognizing a specifc style of writing, and people who didn't write that way, either weren't impressed enough to buy one in the first place, or didn't usually keep it for long if they did get one.

[Silver @ Mar 9th 2006 9:50AM]

"You couldn't load Photoshop, or Pagemaker, or Quark onto your Newton."

Yes, and using Photoshop on this "UMPC" thingy would be a real joy. :|

Did a Newton run over your dog, or are you just a raving lunatic?

[shaka999 @ Mar 9th 2006 10:34AM]

I think they hit the size just right. Any smaller and its just a PDA. As it stands I can see a ton of neat applications for this.

I'm hoping they have a media center version built in. If I could use this as a mobile TV anywhere in my house it would rock. If they can get this under $700 and they marketed it as a mobile entertainment [in addition to normal computer functions] I think they could do very well.

[Sol @ Mar 9th 2006 10:36AM]

L. M. Lloyd writes an informed response to all the niggling jits portending to know that Origami will fail because Newton failed. And yet all the ignorant responses backup his argument. Did any of you even read his posts?

[Marcus J. Wilson Sr. @ Mar 9th 2006 10:52AM]

So the UMPC is a PDA on steroids? Or what a PDA should have been all along. I remember watching Star trek when the lowly guys in the red shirts would have one of these (slimmer of course) and they would show it to Spock or Capt. Kirk, who would check off something and the lowly minon would go get dressed so they could die in the next scene.
The umpc has been here before in different models, but it didn't have the right software to go with it. The one thing it does need is a good, no--excellent voice recognition program. Something useful like. "Computer, show me a map of where I am and all the nudie bars within a half mile walking distance."
Yea, something useful.

[Kevin @ Mar 9th 2006 11:24AM]

How depressing, it's windows with a new skin laid over the top of it. At least it seems.

As a tablet PC user, I can't really say that having a screen I can touch with my finger is anything great. I use, and like my current tablet PC but I wouldn't buy another.

If this thing could act as a phone over VoIP, could play Xbox games (not 360, yet) and stay connected to the net where ever I go then sure this would be great, but it looks like a rip off to be honest. Buy a laptop, you get so much more, and some even have touch screens.

I don't think I would even play with it in the store, what is the point of this? Ah, that right, revenue.

All this from a MS fanboy too :(

[Spencer @ Mar 9th 2006 11:36AM]

I can pretty much do all this with my Dell PDA. It's not widescreen or anything, but I can watch videos from my Media Center PC re-encoded and saved on a 1GB CG card, play some 3D accelerated PDA games, surf the internet, and run a spreadsheet. And it costs me about $400.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Mar 9th 2006 12:20PM]

This is the point where the world will move an extra inch because everyone has let out a collective yawn, isn't it?

[huh? @ Mar 9th 2006 12:28PM]

This thing is so similar to me.
I have multiple touch points.
You can play solitaire with me.
I have multimedia and entertainment applications: I sing, I dance; I will be your beard.
I last approximately 3 hours.
I cost about $1000.
Sign up today.

[Scott @ Mar 9th 2006 2:16PM]

Two things:

1. Why are all the interface elements so small on screen? Aren't you suppose to operate this thing with your fingers? Wouldn't it be better to have targets on screen that you can operate with your fingers (without hitting multiple buttons at once) and less wasted space on graduated blue backgrounds; especially since it looks like you use your thumbs the most?

2. Touch screens are "almost" a good idea. Ever look at the screen of a touch screen ATM? Can you now imagine trying to watch a movie through your own greasy finger prints all over the screen? My Palm's screen still gets smudged-up and I only use the stylus on it (don't even get me started on what the screen on my cell phone looks like after spending a couple of minutes next to my ear - yuck).

Not really sure what the point of this thing is. Especially when it costs the same as a full blown laptop.

[mjp @ Mar 9th 2006 2:48PM]

Doesn't this make sense for those of us who don't walk around a whole lot, but would like some gps functions, in car movies, dedicated music device (for hanging out in the park, hooking up in the car...not just walking around- we don't all live in New York or on college campuses.

I have an G3 Ipod with a dead battery. I've known for sometime unless I want to go through the CD burning nightmare to rid myself of DRM that I would have to buy another IPOD... until now. UMPC with ITunes- brilliant.

It's not a horrible idea... I think it'll catch on as a vehicle oriented device. GPS for me, movies for the kids, music for all.

If the price is right- it's not a completely horrible idea.

[Jenny @ Mar 9th 2006 2:49PM]

Eew, looks like they pucked that thing right out of Jetblue's seat back. Very ugly and chunky (2 lbs, meant to be used while holding it, while a nice Sony vaio laptoop is 2.7 pounds with DVD-player with all features and you can put it down and type).

[JS @ Mar 9th 2006 3:59PM]

I could see this in a CarPC type of application very easily and maybe thats what they are gearing it towards since they seem very interested in automotive systems as of late. Maybe our radios will be controlled by Microsoft one day......cant wait to shut down the car and restart to get it working again, haha!

[Todd @ Mar 9th 2006 3:59PM]

How will this work with subscription-based music services (like Napster to go)? Will it be considered a full computer - such that it counts as one of the 3 computers on which you can play the music - or will it be considered one of the two or 3 portable music players on which you can use the music? My guess is the former, but I'm not sure that is best.

[VAStateOfMind @ Mar 9th 2006 4:54PM]

L.M. Lloyd (24, 31, 32) -- so quick on the draw with that "machead commenters" label, aren't we? I haven't owned a Mac in years, though I'll likely switch back later this year given the impending release of the yawn-inspiring Windows Vista. Had you set your own bias and bluster aside and actually READ what I originally wrote, you would have noticed that I AGREED with you that Apple never really gave the Newton a purpose. I didn't compare Microsoft's equally crap-tacular Origami to the Newton at all because there IS no comparison. Functionally, Origami runs circles around Newton, but consumers will NEVER shell out nearly $1000 for it. Whatever -- thank God that YOU, the self-proclaimed mean, bad Apple expert, are trolling herein to set us all straight.

Sol (35) -- what are you, L.M. Lloyd's b*tch?

[Alex @ Mar 9th 2006 5:07PM]

But if you use this to just control all your media, what the hell is the point in that. There are alredy countless home media systems designed to control not just your media, but how your lights and your curtains work to, all from companies that have experience in it.

[Berkana @ Mar 9th 2006 5:29PM]

Wow, I didn't know comparing it to the Newton would cause such controversey. Sorry.

All I meant is this: like the Newton, it's in a "dead zone" between sweet spots. I know it has far more than the Newton; that's not my point. My point is that the established (and unlikely to be unestablished) sweet spots for portable electronics are:

1) PDA.
2) Portable gaming device.
3) Laptop.
4) Portable media player.

This device, as I see it, is not likely to compete well against the above four unless it is extremely inexpensive. As it stands, there is no compelling need it fills. If there is, someone explain to me what that is.

[Berkana @ Mar 9th 2006 5:32PM]

. . . so you can type on it. Great. Do you prefer to type with your thumbs or with a keyboard? Laptops will beat this if you like typing with a keyboard, and it's too large to compete against the other thumb-typers out there as a text messaging system.

[Hamburglar87 @ Mar 9th 2006 6:27PM]

"Take a message in your Newton, Beat up Martin." (Newton translation: "Eat up Martha."}