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Microsoft Origami Unfolds
College Student writes "Microsoft has officially unveiled 'Origami', a paperback-book sized portable hybrid (laptop & PDA). From article: 'The new machines will connect wirelessly to the Internet and carry full-sized hard drives, but they are not intended to replace current PCs....The new PCs are expected to sell for between $599 to $999, but Microsoft said it is possible to sell one for $500 if the manufacturer selects components carefully.'" More details at the official Microsoft site, and via Channel 9 a look at the system with the UMPC general manager.
Linky
I remember seeing this thing on a CNet video a year ago, it was extremely impressive back then running a full version of XP with all the inputs and outputs you could want.
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
There's at least one MAJOR difference Origami is running some Windows version and Nokia 770 is running (Debian based) Maemo! Open source.
The link shows the Skype icon on the desktop.
http://cebitnews.turnpages.com/pdf/pagina.001.pdf
http://www.nu.nl/news.jsp?n=689884&c=134
Apparently, it has a rotatable back, revealing a small size keyboard. This would make it interesting for me. And I'm also interested in the hardware issues, might be a nice thing to run linux on, I'd buy it instead of a laptop. What also would be nice is a USB port to connect a real keyboard to it.
molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
I had several more sites with loads of information for my version of this article. I event had a link for umpc.com which is a website created by Intel for the UMPC community and even has a web forum with development information.
I feel cheated =/
Active browsing time via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth is up to 3 hours. Stand-by time of the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is up to 7 days. from Nokia.
The pain was excruciating and the scarring is likely permanent, but that just means it's working.
a wm5 dell axim when theres a discount on with The Core Media player could do.
plus its a pda with wifi as well....
ofcourse its hardly cool, but still.
or you could try creative zen vision, though im not a big fan of the build quality of theur mp3 players.
The nokia 770 runs linux and is more practical. 3rd party bluetooth headset support is available and an officially supported VoIP phone is going to be out in the next couple of months. And if for nothing else, it's fun to hack ;) 350 dollars retail.
If an officer ever threatens to taze you, say you have a pacemaker.
If you check out the Maemo software for the Nokia 770, they have Calendar software, todo, etc. It's the open source way to allow the user to decide what they want to install.
j.
In other words, the average chap wouldn't have to learn a new UI with Origami.
That is barely relevant.
You can pretty much expect that you'll get different UI with a handheld than you would with a desktop. Doesn't seem to be a problem when people get a new cell phone with a million options.
The major difference is in the toolkits developers will be using to produce software for the thing.
"If they have both, tell them we use Linux. And if they have that, tell them the computers are down." -Dave Chapelle
As an owner of a Windows Mobile PDA (Dell Axim x50v) I can say authoratatively that Windows Mobile software sucks in so many ways it's hard to count. The OS is buggy, slow, an so severly crippled in areas that desktop users take for granted that it is physically painful to use. The software selection for add-on programs is so diminuative that when I switched from PalmOS, I honestly thought that I had to be missing some secret community of developers. I couldn't believe that 1) there were no Windows versions of so many of the Palm apps that I had found essential, and 2) there was no active community of programmers and hobbiests trading code and writing scripts to do all the little things that hadn't been included in the OS.
The Windows Mobile world is dominated by a very few developers who write commercial software for profit. The wonderful selection of little free/share-ware apps that exist in the desktop and Palm world is totally non-existent in the WinMobile world. In addition, MS makes it exremely difficult for the hobbiest to "play around" with the devices and this keeps many who might be interested from even bothering.
Some examples:
There is one, and only one, program that can be used to completely backup your Windows Mobile device, and it is not included with the OS. This program must be bought, from a third party, and the WM 5.0 version took 4 months to be released after WM 5.0 was released.
To "Active Sync" your WM 5.0 device you MUST have Outlook or Outlook Express, not only installed on your windows desktop, but it MUST be the default email client.
There are only two usable alternatives to the internal contact/calender management programs, both commercial software, and almost no external script abilitiy to customize these apps beyond the limited choices offered by the developers.
I left Palm because the hardware offereings have fallen so far behind state-of-the-art it is pathetic. My Dell has built-in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, SD card slot, CF Card slot, and a true VGA screen. There is no comparable Palm offering, even the rediculously overpriced LifeDrive. I find myself using my Dell much less than I used to use my Palm, with the exception of GPS navigation, which the Palm couldn't do at all. I am using my laptop much more, but carrying that bulk around is tiresome, in more ways than one.
I will definately be keeping my eyes on these new devices. If I could get a $600-$800 device in a paperback size form factor, with a full OS, good battery life and a thumb keyboard, I would jump at the chance.
"Unheard of means only it's undreamed of yet,
Impossible means not yet done." ~~ Julia Ecklar
Well the first issue is you bought a Dell Axim. Those things have great specs, but the implementation of WM5 is awful, slow, and buggy. Second, there is a huge group of developers giving free software, code, and so on. Look at 4winmobile.com, http://www.pocketpcdn.com/ CodeGuru has a section, and there are many many others. Most people share code on the newsgroups too.
Look, I know that WinMobile isn't perfect, but most of what you are writing is out of ignorance and not fact.
Actually Microsoft contracts out most of the brochure type web development to companies around Seattle. Some companies have specific contracts for parts of the Microsoft web site. So no, it was not a Microsoft employee who screwed up.
Actually, I'd heard they were going to do just that - sell them to anyone for $200, using the proceeds presumably to help fund the program.
> Since I spend my days typing (I'm a tech writer) a good keyboard is a must, and despite looking around quite a bit,
> I really haven't found anything as good as the MS keyboards.
Get thee to eBay and buy yourself an IBM Model M or a Northgate Omnikey. They are both still available if you are patient. There is even a company that has bought the rights to the Model M's design and making new ones, can't recall the name right now. A couple of years ago I lucked up on a pair of Model M keyboards with a 1994 manufacture date still in the original sealed boxes. Put one at home and at work and have been happy as a pig in poop since.
Also have an Omnikey, it is very nice also but a little different feel. If I had a matched pair of em I might use them instead. The omnikey will even comes with extra keycaps and stuff to allow you to put CTRL back where God intended it, but since I have to use too many other machines I couldn't get away with that.
Democrat delenda est
There are several alternative methods.
Actually in the past, most tablets were only touch screens, which kept me away from them.
. shtml
_ le1600.asp (These things can be upgraded to 180 viewing angles.)
http://www.tabletpctalk.com/faqs/hwcomparison2003
I've been doing research on the newer tablets that implement WACOM digitizers, since I'm an artist and came upon the above link when trying to find out their specs. The first tablet I tried out was only touch screen and the problem with that, is that if you wrest your hand on it for sketching, or writing, it screws everything up. A digitizer using WACOM's tech, even though it's dated with no "tilt" feature, and only 256 levels of pressure sensitivity, is vastly more accurate than any touch screen I've tried, and more importantly, you can wrest your hand any where on the screen.
IMO, these things are just too big and kind of fall into an awkward inbetween area, where a product really isn't needed. They're too big to be convient like a PDA and are too limited to replace a notebook. I just can't see that many peeps buying one, since a notebook can provide soo much more for not much more. Samsung's version is selling for $1100, which makes it way too expensive for what it can't do.
I personally would like one of these, since they're full fledge computers in a smaller package, but at $3k, I'll be investing in a Wacom 21UX instead;
http://www.motioncomputing.com/products/tablet_pc
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