OQO to go vertical to fight UMPC

Less than a week after the rollout of the first UMPCs, a pioneer of lightweight portable computing has announced plans to shift its business model. OQO, which  produces a 14-ounce computer that includes both a touchscreen and a keyboard, has been beset by production delays, a lukewarm market response, and turnover in the executive suite. New CEO Jay Shiveley says the company had been planning a move into vertical markets such as healthcare and sales, and that the launch of the UMPC products -- which are expected to underprice the $2,000 OQO by well over $1,000 --- had given the shift "extra weight." Shiveley expressed doubts that the UMPC could succeed in the consumer market, and sounded off with the old saw that the entry by Microsoft and Intel into the market validated it: "When the big boys start to blow air into the balloon, it starts to get big fast." He'd better hope his bubble doesn't burst if the UMPC fails.

[Mike @ Mar 14th 2006 6:02PM]

Give me an OQO for under $1000 and I'll buy one else it's UMPC for me!

[stephen @ Mar 14th 2006 6:11PM]

I really hope that OQO can pull it off...Their product seems more original than these overhyped UMPCs...I just don't see the point.

[zorg @ Mar 14th 2006 6:24PM]

I'm impressed by how stable the OQO 01+ price is on ebay. The original model 01 has dropped to $1,000 on ebay, but the 01+ is just so much better that I keep checking for price drops on that. The UMPCs don't appear to come close, although at 40 percent of the OQO's price, they don't have to. The UMPCs don't appear to trump the Nokia 770, though, so I guess this round of UMPC will fail independent of whether OQO survives.

[David Vaassen @ Mar 14th 2006 6:25PM]

I love the OQO concept and design. However there are 2 problems they need to overcome to see them be successsful.

1. Price. Got to be under $1000 - probably around $600 to $700.

2. The OS/CPU combination. This puppy would really fly with a Palm Linux or Apple OSX OS. XP is too resource hungry in my opinion.

Maybe with UMPC out OQO should consider an alt OS.

[Mark @ Mar 14th 2006 6:40PM]

OQO is done. Plain and simple.

The 01+ is a sexy piece of hardware. But the mainstream doesn't really care about this product, and vertical markets are more interested in lightweight Tablet PCs or souped up PDAs.

These guys have neither the marketing budget, product design capabilities, or financial reserves to play with any of the UMPC vendors. And you KNOW that Microsoft will hang them out to dry (if they haven't already) in order to 'better differentiate' the UMPC market.

[ZORG] I think the Ebay price of OQO's will be going up pretty soon -- as it becomes a rare novelty item...

[Tom C @ Mar 14th 2006 6:43PM]

I wish OQO the best of luck to advance their products presense in the market and obtain comptetative pricing. Hopefull, due to further collaboration with Intel, as was stated in the article, OQO can get a faster chip with less power consumption and blow away any UMPC. Personaly, I dont feel the UMPC is going to get anywhere, just like the first slate tablet PC's... A computer is to a certain point useless without a keyboard. The OQO is an amazing product and the company deserves all it can get.

[Yong @ Mar 14th 2006 7:02PM]

Extensive disscussion here:
http://www.handtops.com/forum/1932/0//__OQO_Shifting_To_Vertical_Focus.html#

[James Rice @ Mar 14th 2006 7:06PM]

I would agree that UMPC's are going to have a tough or impossible time taking off. Sure the gadget hounds (like myself, and other people reading engadget), may run off an get one... but not your average consumer.

I am not one to bitch about battery life, but when it comes to something you're meant to carry around, they are going to have to do better than 2-3 Hours. And if thats the quoted number, it probably is less in reality...

I've liked the OQO since it first came out, and have thought about buying one a number of times. Hopefully OQO can get a piece of the possible new market for these things, because from what I've seen so far, OQO still has the best looking device. Primarily because the keyboard is hidden, the the border around the screen is nice and thin... compared to the Samsung UMPC that looks like a blown up Sega Game Gear :)

[Ayrkain @ Mar 14th 2006 7:11PM]

My hope is that the UMPC's will push innovation on this platform from those who know how to do so, like OQO and Nokia (hey, even Apple would be cool). I've heard that the Nokia 770 is still a bit rough around the edges, but that Internet Tablet 2006 (VOIP and IM!) will be a lot better. I'm far more likely to go for that than a $1000 OQO or a $800-$1000 UMPC.

[mike @ Mar 14th 2006 7:18PM]

Oh man, it's the blind leading the blind..

any customers in this equation?

[Ryukun @ Mar 14th 2006 7:41PM]

If the OQO was clamshell, I'd be all over it, I wish they would rip off the Zaurus : /

[dave @ Mar 14th 2006 8:06PM]

#8, you get it.
paraphrasing the announcement:

"We screwed around so long our target market has been eaten by competition."
Stick a fork in them.

[Jake @ Mar 14th 2006 8:49PM]

I really think a lot of people are missing the point on the UMPCs. I don't think they are intended to be low functioning computers. I think they are intended to be very high functioning portable media devices.

Every time someone comes out with a portable media player people complain about the user interface being awkward and/or limited audio/video format compatibility (the exception, of course, being iPod which somehow always gets a free pass even though, for example, the video functions on the new iPod are limited and kind of, well, sucky to use a technical term.

With this UMPC platform,you don't need to worry about that stuff since it can run any codec you can run on your pc and you can use whatever interface you like, whether it's iTunes or RealPlayer or Windows Media Player or whatever.

If you think of a UMPC as a portable TV/Video/MP3 player/Tivo that also happens to be a fully functioning PC if/when you want it to be, maybe it's more appealing. I don't know.

To me, once there are after market docks for these UMPC things so you can move them from car to office to kitchen, they become pretty attractive.

On the OQO front, they're hosed. What they did was really, really difficult and they should be commended for pulling it off. They designed and built a handheld that runs full blown XP all on their own. They did not have the combined resources of Microsoft and Intel building them a ready-made reference platform like all these UMPC makers did. And, the really amazing part for OQO, they got it to market. That ain't easy.

But they're screwed. They're never going to be able to sell it at a price they can make money on. I have no doubt that the device is worth the price they're asking for -- that's why all the people posting here think it's so damn nice and so much better than the UMPC's -- IT IS NICER!

But note that all those same people want the OQO to cost the same price as the much less expensive to build, reference-design-built-by-Intel-so-please-design-your-own-plastic-shell-to -put-around-it-UMPC.

And don't worry, nicer, smaller UMPCs will come as the technology evolves. So even if some people ultimately are willing to fork over the extra cash
for the OQO because there's nothing like it, that won't last long.

And one more thing -- sorry this post got so long.

Peace

[Keith @ Mar 14th 2006 9:29PM]

OQO will not survive. Our 1000 bed hospital budgeted to test and possibly purchase the OQO before they started selling the first model. Initally we helped them with venture capitalists endorsing the product in vertical markets. We spent many hours helping with this endeavor without requestng any compensation. OQO rewarded us by completely ignoring our emails and phone calls once they started selling the product. It was if we didn't exist. It is this type of corporate behavior that will doom them. Needless to say, our hospital will have nothing to do with this company, and it cost them the sale of at least 500 computers at the start.

[Jim Lewis @ Mar 14th 2006 9:57PM]

Deciding whether or not this is worth the creation of a site. I know I was one to go on a domain frenzy.

http://www.businessorigami.com

http://www.umpcorigami.com

[Doug @ Mar 14th 2006 11:42PM]

OQO was exciting in concept. Bear in mind how they presented this thing: as a full blown mobile replacement for your desktop - pop it into the dock for desktop functionality, pop it out and into a pocket for that same functionality on the go (recall their promotional video). One look at the specs, however, and you can see how compromised it is as both a PC and a mobile device.

Cost isn't the issue here, so much. The issue is performance. Build a device that delivers what was promised, and people - some people, anyway - will pay the price required, whatever that price might be. The first company that really can put a PC in your pocket will find a ready market.

[Jake @ Mar 15th 2006 1:11AM]

I actually think OQO did a fantastic job. As good as could be done with current (or maybe then-current) technology. The technology hasn't quite been there yet for a truly pocketable PC at even a semi-affordable price.

It's almost there, though. The combination of OLED screen technology (not only thinner and better looking than LCD, but much less power hungry, too), vastly improved flash memory capacities (also lowering battery drain -- and simultaneously allowing more room for more battery), improved battery technologies and enhanced CPU performance with lower power requirements will all add up to a very nice, reasonably affordable, full power pocketable PC within the next 18-24 months.

[Josh @ Mar 15th 2006 3:01AM]

A couple points:

1) The OQO has an active digitizer, not a touch screen as the article states. Digitizers are alot more precise, useable, and expensive.

2) OQO made alot of mistakes. First, they went with XP Pro initially instead of Tablet OS which means they missed out on handwriting recognition and the ability to use other third party Tablet PC software. Secondly, the 1Ghz Transmeta processor is slow. It was used in one of the first Tablet PC's back in 2002 (HP TC1000).

3) The OQO in terms of performance is comparable to a UMPC. Neither can be used as a desktop replacement like a decent Tablet PC. But when you consider that, it's hard to justify spending so much more money on the OQO. Which is why they're going to re-market it as a premium business oriented machine. Not sure how well this will work unless they lose the Transmeta and actually make it a premium business oriented machine like Motion's LS800.

4) To everyone who keeps comparing the Nokia 770 with UMPC's... please stop. The Nokia 770 is more like a Pocket PC than a UMPC or Tablet PC. No hard drive, 128mb ram, slow processor, non-mainstream OS, extremely limited software availability... it's not even in the same league. Of course it's gonna cost ~$300.

[Jocke Selin @ Mar 15th 2006 4:38AM]

I think this whole discussion is quite sad. Most of the comments are focusing on having a portable desktop replacement computer, or at least a shrunken down laptop. UMPC and it's (technically and designwise) superior OQO are, IMO, not desktop replacements.
From my perspective the UMPC (including the OQO) should b "the computer away from the computer". I already have a powerful desktop machine (AMD64/3000 w/ Kubuntu @ 2GB RAM) with plenty of screen real estate (1600x1200 times three), and I don't need the hypercrunching power in my pocket.
HOWEVER, I do want my communications to be there, and I want the web to be there, and I want (some) of my entertainment to be there too.
Therefore, to me, the UMPC and the OQO should focus on having a snappy UI and ridiculously long battery life (16h+). Why?!
Well, imagine pulling out your UMPC/OQO at a friends place, wanting to show your latest home movie; You'll have to boot up (at worst) WinXP, or at least wake it from hibernation (Zzzzzzz), then you have to wait for the media player to spin up, and due to all the bells and whistles the HDD will probably be using a swap partition (which consumes huge power), then you'll have to locate and load your movie... 5 minutes of hassle to show a 3 minute movie - no thanks.
The ultra-long battery life comes into play when you're away from your computer. Say you're watching TV or cooking. You've got your UMPC/OQO on the table and it's quietly playing your favourite Internet radio station, while you browse a recipe or TV Guide. Suddenly you get a Skype call or an instant message. You either use your BT Headset or flick out the hidden keyboard to answer the IM... When done, you just leave the UMPC/OQO to continue its work as a radio...
If this thing has to be charged before you (ie sleeping) it just won't work.

I'll buy an UMPC/OQO when:
a) Battery life is 10h plus
b) The OS running is snappy and happy to use (kind of like the first versions of Palm OS)
c) The focus is moved away from a "normal" computer, and put into a more "computer companion" state.

Sorry for the long rant - but I'm really split about the UMPC and OQO.

[Snappy! @ Mar 15th 2006 6:10AM]

I agree with most of the statements made except for the last part about keyboards.

If we look at the PocketPC / Palm segment, we see consumers warming up to those units with built-in keyboards and abandoning those pure-stylus based devices.

There is a thriving community at hpcfactor.com and many users are learning the usefulness of the HandheldPC, a platform abandoned by Microsoft 4~6 years ago.

I own a HP Jornada 720 right now only because it is affordable (like-new condition from ebay at $139). Even if new units are available from HP today, I would not get them, because HP will charge $900 ~ $1000+ for them. And why? Because HP and folks like Shively thinks that going vertical is the way to go and enterprise folks will lap it up at $1k. HP was wrong and the Jornada was axed.

No one is saying that OQO or UMPCs should be sold for $139. Selling at that price would be suicidal unless there is some content or service subscription sell-in. But if OQO or UMPC OEMs can bring in to retail at $499, then a whole new segment of users from both consumers and corporate would consider it as an option.

And on the keyboard, with the ongoing thing about blogging, a keyboard is god-sent! Why Shively thinks that consumers do not need a keyboard more than the corporate user is beyond me.

I can easily think of at least 3 scenarios where keyboard would be great and if bundled at a consumer-friendly price of $499, it would really sell:

1. The Blogger.
What better than a 1~2lbs* UMPC that the avid blogger can carry everywhere *AND* type *AND* post via wifi online? (This brings up the issue of battery)

2. The budding writer
Writers are creative folks. They are not programmers who could do with a 19" LCD ... actually TWO 19" LCD, one for the code and one to run the program or to run debug output for ICE. Having the keyboard built-in means being able to write effectively anywhere anytime. It would be crazy for a writer to try and write something with the stylus! *argh*

3. Mom and Pop
I don't know if anyone (Read: MS, HP and the big boys) noticed, but even mom and pop uses the internet to write emails or look up weather or something. As much as I used to believe that surfing the web is great with a tablet (I owned a tablet [Siemens SL4 SIMpad, instanton WinCE 4.1 device), I found that its not a Read-Only Web experience today. Why, news is not just about reading anymore. Here I am writing this fairly long comment on my notebook, something that would be torturous if not impossible using the onscreen keyboard for SIMpad. Mom and pop or anyone surfing the web today need more keyboard input than before. We post to forum, sell things on ebay, write emails etc. All of which requires the keyboard.

(Enterprise-based scenarios)
4. The Journalist
If bloggers can use a UMPC with keyboard, why not the Journalist? Why, if a UMPC have a built-in camera, he just need to snap some pics and send over to his in-office editor to review and take some detailed ones with a digicam. Then he can type a brief and send it over wirelessly. All without lugging around a notebook ... or fumbling over a stylus.

5. Law Agency
I think those folks in blue already have something like that, but bulkier, uglier and in need of an update. They could have the keyboard as part of the car holder which the UMPC docks with. When out of the car, they undock and uses the keydials to do a brief. When docked, they can then sit down and type with the keyboard.

Here, I would like to highlight again the need for whole-day computing batt life. HandheldPCs running wince OS had 8+hr batt life. With an extended batt for some models, they had 12~14hr batt life, more than enough for a day. If UMPCs want to be useful at all, and I am not talking about usefulness to a Microsoftie who spends his time shuttling among the different buildings in Redmond campus, then a minimum of 5hr batt life is required. Why 5hr? Because when someone is using it intensely, with wifi and full screen brightness, mp3 playing, you get prob about 3+ hrs. Nobody would use a UMPC like the way they test their products: mid~dim backlight, soft volume, occasional wifi ... only test labs do that please!

With 3~4hrs batt life under MAX power usage, it is more reasonable to call it Ultra-Mobile. Then users do not have to be tettered by the power cord, or lug around the power brick. I read an interview where the MS folk says that power outlets are everywhere, so its not really an issue. That's what I mean. I think he really did not think of how users will be using their product. He is thinking like an engineer. Power outlets are everywhere, sure. BUT power adapters are *not* everywhere! It means carrying more ... meaning less mobile! Imagine having to carry your phone power adapter in your pocket when you go to the movies, the mall, the clubs etc. And asking to plug in once awhile. Oh great! That is really cool! Thank you.

2.5 batt life claim by manufacturers prob mean 1~2 hrs real-life batt time. And that is really lame. Bringing the power brick is a workaround and not a solution. In fact, its not even a workaround, it is what will kill the product altogether.

You add in the power brick, and we are talking almost 3lbs weight. Factor in a bag, and it tips 3lbs or more. That's what a Ultramobile notebook weighs. And the latter have a DVD drive to boot! A latest Sony Vaio weighs in 2+lb and performs quite well too. Only reason why its not in the mass is because its not priced to be so. But you don't expect that from Sony, 'cos Sony sells niche products all the time. They don't care about mass-market for some of their products.

If Shively or MS wants OQO or the UMPC to succeed, then you need mass. Then you need at least the following:

1. Pricepoint - $499
2. Battery life - 4hr real-life heavy usage
3. Keyboard keyboard keyboard

Thank you.

[Ash @ Mar 15th 2006 8:04AM]

If oqo reduces to say �800 i would get one and so would a lot of people and UMPC's would be dead before they started

[Judah Stroud @ Mar 15th 2006 10:25AM]

OK the world has gone mad. I think everyone has lost their collective mind. This whole UMPC/Origami BS is old news. Sony built these years ago and nobody wanted them, but now, all of a sudden, it's the "in" thing. Are you freakin' kidding me!? I thought it was awesome way back then, in the old days :) I actually went to a Sony Style store and tested out one of the US distributed U-750s. The damn thing was sweet, touch screen and all the bells and whistles. Just didn't have the $2,000 to drop on it at the time or else I'd be sending this comment from it, instead I'm typing on my PPC-6700. Anyway my point is how soon we forget and things become all brand new again...let's stop re-inventing the wheel people and move on, check the link: http://www.engadget.com/2004/07/27/getting-the-tablet-pc-os-to-run-on-sonys-ultrapersonal-pc/

[Dusty @ Mar 15th 2006 12:14PM]

Snappy said it all, and perfect.

1. Battery life in the 4 1/2 - 5 hrs at max usage
2. Keyboard, Keyboard, Keyboard

Many of the people "propping" these things are propping them as ultraportable multi media devices.

I don't care how many codecs and formats are supported -- if the best you can do is 2 1/2 hours audio (if you are lucky) and about 1 - 1 1/2 hours video not being plugged in.

I own an OQO, and yes it is a killer piece of hardware....But as others have pointed out, if you are always having to plug in and carry a power brick and cable -- you might as well have a regular laptop. That is what I have found.

At first it was so cool to carry my OQO around in my pocket and "whip it out" to show people that "hey, I have a full blown Windows XP pc with a keyboard in my pocket". But as time went on and I needed to do real work, or even listen to music or play a movie - I quickly found out that battery life was not enough to make this a reality. Between boot up times and battery life -- I used it less and less. I would take it to the park while the kids played, and try to surf the internet and listen to a few tunez. If I had a fully charged battery, my uptime would seldom outlast my kids energy.

[skantilous @ Mar 15th 2006 1:14PM]

#8 your comments are rediculous.

They have the money. They are backed by motorola and a venture capital contingent that is quite impressive. OQO's problem is that they need to move to a new processor that takes less power than a PIII. If intel makes this supposed UMPC second gen processor, battery times will go up.

As far as the price point. I think that because their customers are mmore willing to pay the 2000 for a OQO they have added a premium. Also since they are not mass produced on the scale that they could be, the price is also seriously inflated. You could cut 800 off the price just by increasing the manufacturing to the scale of Samsung and Asus. I think 1000 is feasbile OQO if they were actually going after consumers. But they are trying to do what RIM did for smart phones. Good luck to them

[yup @ Mar 15th 2006 1:57PM]

I think that OQO's design is the most elegant per square inch over it's competition.

Odd industry prediction: Apple buys OQO, turns the thing white, slap an apple logo on it, call it "iPalmtop", "iPod squared" or some other "i" name, doesn't change a thing otherwise and then the "experts" rave about how "original" "perfect" "new" the design is.

[ug @ Mar 15th 2006 2:43PM]

"Going vertical" in the face of cheap commodity hardware is what killed SGI. Companies aren't all stupid. They won't pay a premium for the same basic product they can get cheaper elsewhere, regardless of how something is marketed.

If the UMPC sells for $500, even if it's marketed as an entertainment device, if it's still a full fledged PC, it will still penetrate the "vertical" market and kill OQO.

[Ed Fry @ Mar 15th 2006 2:44PM]

The only difference I can see between an OQO and a UMPC is some small features added to the Tablet PC OS. I don't see any reason why OQO can't get that OS update from Microsoft and start selling it on OQO's. As for a keyboard, is it written somewhere that a UMPC cannot have one of any kind built into it? I know that you can plug a USB one into it, but I don't see Microsoft saying "you can't make a UMPC" to OQO because it has a keyboard integrated into it.

The only thing that OQO needs to do is get the price lower. They do that and they could own the UMPC market.

[Snappy! @ Mar 15th 2006 9:07PM]

Judah, yes its old news, and why is it that everyone's gone wild and mad over UMPC? Because of the earlier and continued promise from MS that some UMPCs will have long (I read long as at least 4~5 hrs and ideally 8+hr) batt life and priced around $500. That is why. A $2000 OQO, thanks but no thank you.

It's like why Dell is the number one PC maker in the world. If they start selling at Sony price, you will soon see dell.com on the "This domain is available for sale" listing ...

Thanks Dusty, I just hope MS, its (croonies) partners and OQO will wakeup to it soon.

Ed Fry, OQO may have chose standard XP for pricing reasons. But the new UMPC platform specs requires non-active touchscreen, so OQO is out. Is it right for Microsoft to do this, narrowing the scope of a flavour of its OS? Perhaps not, but they own it and unless DOJ force them to open up their requirements, I dun see how it can happen.

A thought just came to me why MS would rather not want a keyboard for their UMPC. If a $500 UMPC can deliver 6~8hr batt life, have a detachable keyboard, it would more or less kill off its existing TPC market segment, if its not already dead. MS relies on its OEM partners strongly for volume license to bring the bacon home. It cannot afford to piss them off.

But maybe its time for MS and its partners to just drop the TPC baby and welcome the new born UMPC with open arms.

[David @ Mar 16th 2006 11:56AM]

I've got an OQO model 01+ and it is amazing. It is also well priced for what it is. It's problem is that the number of people of want to pay $2500 (with acc.)for a slow PC that happens to be tiny is, well, tiny. I really hope they can shift themselves in the marketplace while still allowing one off purchases. If I had to go back to using a notebook or try and make things work with Windows Mobile, I'd be a very cranky little geek.

[Scott @ Mar 16th 2006 3:59PM]

I love my OQO. There are some faults but I love it. XP Pro is fine for me and the transmeta isn't as bad as you think. I admit, it is not my desktop replacement, but almost.

[Matt @ Mar 20th 2006 2:00AM]

Do you think flipstart will ever come out now, since the UMPC are rolling out?

[Dan Browne @ Mar 20th 2006 11:04AM]

I think the marketing people have shot themselves in the foot with this one. I was really excited by the hype but most especially by the price quoted ($500-$800). But it seems to be that the price is significantly higher than the top-end estimate. So now I have gone from "gotta have one" to "hmmm. maybe I WONT buy one after all."
Marketing people are so arrogant. They deserve for this product to flop for being so presumptious.