Origami = UMPC
I've been reading a fair bit of the Origami/UMPC hype. Alexandria actually looks more intriguing to me. Intel looks to be staging a partner site to build an
enthusiast community around the device. It's running off of
Community Server (hide that fav.ico on the teaser page, next time) and I was curious if there was more than just the intro video. A
product usage page pretty much confirms that the UMPC will have wireless and gps/presence and that it will work well as a media device.
What's it for? Directly
from the FAQ:
QUESTION: What is a UMPC?
ANSWER: An Ultra Mobile PC is a small device that you can carry and use
to access your favorite online games, videos, music, TV shows and more
on the go, with the quality you're accustomed to to when you're in
front of your PC.
The UMPC also connects you to people via email,
VoIP, Instant Messaging and texting, and since it can identify its
environment, the UMPC can bring you information according to your
location, like the best local restaurants.
Additionally, the UMPC also offers a long battery
life, so you can access your information for long periods of time while
on the road.
QUESTION: Is the UMPC going to replace the laptop or PDA?
ANSWER: No. The UMPC is a mobile device designed to access online media
and content on the go. It is not designed to process lots of work or
write a college thesis. You have your laptop or desktop for these
tasks. Instead, the UMPC is a great PC companion.
The UMPC is powerful enough to provide a great
gaming, music or video experience. People will have to decide whether
they want to replace their dedicated electronic device with the UMPC.
The pictures look like they're closer to real than the various mockups floating around--I've thought these were sort of when one of the car mags posts spy pictures with all the bad fairings and tape. In one shot, you can see a slideout keyboard as the person thumb keys with the device in a portrait orientation. In other shots, it's being used in landscape mode with thumb buttons gameboy/psp style. And let's throw in a shot of a woman shopping--because ladies do like to clock it down at the mall, device or no device.
People keep trying to define what the device is in terms of existing devices. It looks powerful to do most pda tasks easily, although it's too big to be a compact in-the-pocket pda. If you rock the man-purse, then, yes, it's a pda. Media uses look like they're front and center (couple it with Alexandria and maybe Cupertino should check the rearview). Size-wise it has nothing to do with the portable music device form factor--but add video and it's large for the category but plausible. It's smaller and less full-featured than even an ultraportable notebook or tablet, but it can offer a fair amount of these devices functionality and extensibility in more portable and somewhat more durable form factor.
I add these up and see a device that isn't really built to replace each of these items head-to-head. It looks like it's geared to offer a single device that tries to connect what are currently pretty much activity silos. It's an interesting idea. It seems a little large and pricey to catch like wildfire (based upon initial reporting). That doesn't, however, make it uninteresting at all. The synchronization and remote desktop story should likewise be pretty interesting to follow.
Lastly, the usual partisan commentary from both the pro- and anti-Microsoft factions has been particularly comical in this round. Loving or hating Microsoft really takes on its best form when it happens over something fairly abstract. They should save the marketing dollars and just do Jobs-style surprise launches... although if Redmond adopted this approach, the Apple*nix moonbats will have to recast it as some inherent ulterior weakness.