Drider_it

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11636942/#storyContinued

Microsoft’s Origami puzzle begins to unfold
Secretive portable device could be a paperback-sized PC




The veil of mystery surrounding Microsoft’s secretive Origami portable device lifted just a little on Thursday after the firm updated the project’s cryptic Web site, hinting that all would be revealed on March 9.

It may be coincidence, but March 9 is also the launch in Hannover, Germany, of CeBit, the world’s largest annual trade show for the information and telecommunications technology industry.

Information from Microsoft on Origami is sketchy to say the least. Industry reports predict it is the company’s long-awaited offering hoping to take a bite out of rival Apple’s all-conquering i-Pod. (MSNBC is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)


Instead, Origami is the moniker for the first iteration of paperback-sized computers that will run Microsoft's regular Windows XP operating system, a person close to Microsoft told The Associated Press.

The person, who is familiar with the plans, spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is still confidential.

Microsoft has confirmed that an ultra-mobile PC is in the works, but the company has declined to offer specific details. A Web site set up by the company, www.origamiproject.com, has been teasing would-be buyers with tidbits about the project, and fueling speculation about what the new devices might do.

The viral marketing approach is well employed by Apple, with a feeding frenzy of media attention and rumors generated ahead of each release of the iPod, iBook and iMac products as the often wildly conflicting information is dripped out drop by drop.

Origami is expected to be the size of a paperback book, able to play music, games, connect to the internet and run software.

The so-called "ultra-mobile PCs" are being targeted initially at tech-savvy consumers who want a smaller computer that is easy to take on vacation, in the subway or anywhere else where a full-sized PC would seem too bulky, the person familiar with the plans said.

The early versions are expected to be available to consumers soon after its debut at CeBit, the person said.

They will be built by a variety of computer makers, this person said, and are expected to sell for between $500 and $1,000, although final prices aren't yet available.

The computers will generally be less powerful than full-fledged PCs, although they will have all the functionality of a Windows PC, this person said. The small size means they won't necessarily have a keyboard. Some other small or advanced computer devices let people use a stylus and a touch screen rather than a keyboard to input information.

Microsoft is expecting that people will use the small computers for things like looking at photos, watching movies, finding driving directions and checking e-mail. For now, at least, they will not have the advanced entertainment capabilities found in computers running the "media center" version of Windows, this person said. Those computers allow people to do things like record television.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

I keep thinking of spiderman 2 and doc ock.. lol

wont work for gamers but heh it be worth it to play with it.. wonder of another os could be slapped on it? just wish there was a pic.

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cyrnel

Plenty of 3.5" boards & displays but not many in a usable package.

It'll be nice if they drive SBC prices down.

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AquaFox

sooo it's a windows based palm pilot??? if it doesn't come with a keyboard, will it still have alt-cntrl-delete buttons to reset it?

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cyrnel

Paperback my butt. I hope they look a bit deeper in their vendor list. That thing's huge. "A veertual planetoid."

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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

YaWhateva

This IS about the size of a paperback book. At least it looks like that to me

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cyrnel

The screen is standard faire 7" 16:9 format which is paperback size on its side. The rest must be the binding. Really, these are still protos (I think) but lots of SBC parts are quite a bit smaller. You could fit three 3.5" 1.6GHz Pentium M SBC boards side by side in that thing.

Who knows. Intel might have a number of models ready. I think the official showing is still Friday?

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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

MikeSty

Right. Try about the size of a small conversion van.

sailor

I really dont see the market for this thing. It's too big to be a take-it-everywhere kind of thing, but too small to be effectively used like a laptop.

Don't think I'll be shelling out anything for this...

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cyrnel

But for less than $1k!

I do hope they have some good spin. It'd be nice to see them pull off a tablet with mass market appeal.

Edit: Meanwhile, "I'm no kidding. Eets like a pumpkin on a toothpick!"

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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

YaWhateva

Make that a really large paperback book, haha.

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“If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it's clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush administration again.” - Bill O'Reilly

"This is my United States of Whateva!"

Gatorade Frost

I dunno, it's thicker than a paperback book, but I just held up a book in my hand to compare to that guy's and it's about the same.

It doesn't seem like something you could take anywhere with you, but it's small enough to be thrown into a backpack without needing a special briefcase to hold a laptop.

If it's fast enough I'd consider owning one. Well, depending on what all it can do. If it's just an oversized PDA you can count me out but if it's actually capable of quick internet, music, movies, games, word processing, etc. I'd be game for it.

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