David Bird
10-03-06, 10:58 PM
For the past two weeks, the Origami and Microsoft subjects are the hottest things on the Internet, and the fact that yesterday, Microsoft and its partners, Intel, Samsung, Asus and Founder have finally unveiled the big secret at CeBIT 2006 resulted in a hurricane of comments, most of which were rather skeptical, than positive.
http://www.playfuls.com/scitech/gimages/origsmas2.jpg
Leaving aside the fact that Microsoft can celebrate yet another Windows XP edition (this time, called Touch Pack), the analysts and media are wondering whether such an equipment was really necessary, especially since the Ultra-Mobile PC is not at all a new concept. But what Microsoft is launching under this brand has too many deficiencies to assure people of Origami’s success. Way too big, rather heavy, with a battery life of approximately three hours, the Ultra-Mobile PC will have to wait some more before it is able to earn the users’ love.
William Mitchell, Microsoft's corporate vice president of the Mobile Platforms Division, is quite cautious when making a prediction regarding Origami’s possible buyers. He commented for PC World USA (http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125027,00.asp) that “enthusiasts who typically purchase the latest and greatest gadgets will buy the first Origami devices. Customers who currently use either PCs or PDAs as mobile computing devices, and find the experience lacking, will be the second wave of Origami adopters in the next 18 months.”
Also, Leslie Fiering from Gartner, quoted by VNUNet (http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2151693/vnunet-com-analysis-origami) doesn’t believe that Origami will be a successful product quite immediately. "It's important to separate the point products [that were released this week] from the compelling examples of where this is going to go," cautioned Leslie Fiering, a research vice president with Gartner covering mobile computing. “If it is going to succeed, it's going to take at least two to three years,"
Other analysts think that Microsoft is aiming with its Origami at a market that simply doesn’t exist. NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker was skeptical of how much appeal the first round of devices will have. "It's a product in search of a market," he said. It's too expensive for the things it does, Baker said, and is "too under-featured to do some of the other things it needs to do."
Michael Gartenberg, Jupiter Research is the most lenient and thinks that the Origami still needs to evolve. "In terms of usage model, Origami as a concept may well change what devices people carry with them. While it's not a pocketable device, Origami units by design are small enough to be kept close at hand. The fact that they run Windows means that they can excel at a variety of tasks, from productivity to games to media consumption (it's a great Slingbox client, for example). Expect the Origami story to evolve and remember, we haven't seen the Origami story in the Vista timeframe. Look at Origami the way you might look at a new platform, not the value of a particular machine today."
Lance Ulanoff from PC Magazine also warns that the Ultra-Mobile PC is far from reality (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1935964,00.asp). “No one should count out Ultra-Mobiles yet. There are few prototypes, and only Samsung is shipping a real product next month. Microsoft and its partners indicate that all sorts of things could be built into this new PC form factor. Even so, I don't think Steve Jobs is losing any sleep over this announcement.”
Moreover, Ulanoff sees the new product as a sum of two failures. While everyone oohs and ahhs over Microsoft's latest marching orders for obedient hardware manufacturers, it might be worthwhile to note that the Ultra-Mobile is the result of the partial failures of Microsoft's other two portable system plans: The Tablet PC and the Portable Media Center.
Ken “Caesar” Fisher from Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060309-6348.html) probably has the best. “Will Origami be a hit? The size is going to be an issue for many users, because it's just not nearly as "ultra-mobile" as its name suggests. Unless you're Shaq, Origami won't fit in your pocket, and you'll never want to travel too far from your charger on account of the relatively short battery life. The screen resolution is also a bit shallow for my tastes, especially when compared to the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, which crammed 800x480 screen into a much smaller form factor. A good laptop will do a better job of playing video, showing pictures, and displaying documents... but it's not as convenient, I suppose. For sitting around the house or hunkering down for a long flight, the UMPC looks like a decent entertainment device, but it's not without competition. When its time to spend that "disposable income" everyone's talking about, what will it be: PSP, iPod, UMPC/Origami? The list is endless.”
01:24 PM, March 10th 2006
by Playfuls Team
Source (http://www.playfuls.com/news_01523_Media_And_Analysts_Reactions_To_Microso ft_Origami_Project_.html)
http://www.playfuls.com/scitech/gimages/origsmas2.jpg
Leaving aside the fact that Microsoft can celebrate yet another Windows XP edition (this time, called Touch Pack), the analysts and media are wondering whether such an equipment was really necessary, especially since the Ultra-Mobile PC is not at all a new concept. But what Microsoft is launching under this brand has too many deficiencies to assure people of Origami’s success. Way too big, rather heavy, with a battery life of approximately three hours, the Ultra-Mobile PC will have to wait some more before it is able to earn the users’ love.
William Mitchell, Microsoft's corporate vice president of the Mobile Platforms Division, is quite cautious when making a prediction regarding Origami’s possible buyers. He commented for PC World USA (http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125027,00.asp) that “enthusiasts who typically purchase the latest and greatest gadgets will buy the first Origami devices. Customers who currently use either PCs or PDAs as mobile computing devices, and find the experience lacking, will be the second wave of Origami adopters in the next 18 months.”
Also, Leslie Fiering from Gartner, quoted by VNUNet (http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2151693/vnunet-com-analysis-origami) doesn’t believe that Origami will be a successful product quite immediately. "It's important to separate the point products [that were released this week] from the compelling examples of where this is going to go," cautioned Leslie Fiering, a research vice president with Gartner covering mobile computing. “If it is going to succeed, it's going to take at least two to three years,"
Other analysts think that Microsoft is aiming with its Origami at a market that simply doesn’t exist. NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker was skeptical of how much appeal the first round of devices will have. "It's a product in search of a market," he said. It's too expensive for the things it does, Baker said, and is "too under-featured to do some of the other things it needs to do."
Michael Gartenberg, Jupiter Research is the most lenient and thinks that the Origami still needs to evolve. "In terms of usage model, Origami as a concept may well change what devices people carry with them. While it's not a pocketable device, Origami units by design are small enough to be kept close at hand. The fact that they run Windows means that they can excel at a variety of tasks, from productivity to games to media consumption (it's a great Slingbox client, for example). Expect the Origami story to evolve and remember, we haven't seen the Origami story in the Vista timeframe. Look at Origami the way you might look at a new platform, not the value of a particular machine today."
Lance Ulanoff from PC Magazine also warns that the Ultra-Mobile PC is far from reality (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1935964,00.asp). “No one should count out Ultra-Mobiles yet. There are few prototypes, and only Samsung is shipping a real product next month. Microsoft and its partners indicate that all sorts of things could be built into this new PC form factor. Even so, I don't think Steve Jobs is losing any sleep over this announcement.”
Moreover, Ulanoff sees the new product as a sum of two failures. While everyone oohs and ahhs over Microsoft's latest marching orders for obedient hardware manufacturers, it might be worthwhile to note that the Ultra-Mobile is the result of the partial failures of Microsoft's other two portable system plans: The Tablet PC and the Portable Media Center.
Ken “Caesar” Fisher from Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060309-6348.html) probably has the best. “Will Origami be a hit? The size is going to be an issue for many users, because it's just not nearly as "ultra-mobile" as its name suggests. Unless you're Shaq, Origami won't fit in your pocket, and you'll never want to travel too far from your charger on account of the relatively short battery life. The screen resolution is also a bit shallow for my tastes, especially when compared to the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, which crammed 800x480 screen into a much smaller form factor. A good laptop will do a better job of playing video, showing pictures, and displaying documents... but it's not as convenient, I suppose. For sitting around the house or hunkering down for a long flight, the UMPC looks like a decent entertainment device, but it's not without competition. When its time to spend that "disposable income" everyone's talking about, what will it be: PSP, iPod, UMPC/Origami? The list is endless.”
01:24 PM, March 10th 2006
by Playfuls Team
Source (http://www.playfuls.com/news_01523_Media_And_Analysts_Reactions_To_Microso ft_Origami_Project_.html)