Origami Unfolds Some More...

Clever title, I know...

This week, the trade show CeBIT took place in Germany. Many new innovative technologies and ideas are shared to the public and press for the first time. Last week, I talked about the Origami project and now we understand a bit more about the concept of a mobile PC.

Outlined in this article from IGN Entertainment (source: http://gear.ign.com/articles/694/694783p1.html), we learn that the new UMPCs (Ultra Mobile Personal Computer) will be available starting next month. The technology, spear-headed by Intel and Microsoft, will start a premium price and slowly become more affordable as the technology matures into what both companies imagine it will. The first models will be available from Samsung, Founder, and Asustek.

Unfortunately, for now it seems the UMPC idea will not sport all the bells and whistles one might hope. For one, the expected battery life is only around 2-4 hours. This is primarily due to Intel not having their new low-voltage chips available for use until the end of the year.

The product is still quite impressive. It sports a 7” touchscreen that uses something called the “Dial Keyboard”. Instead of having a physical keyboard on the device, the keyboard is superimposed on the screen in 2 distinct fan shapes in the bottom corners. This allows the user to type with their thumbs and read what is on the screen at the same time. In the pictures revealed we see that Internet Explorer and an email client will all be a part of the unit. This is confirmation that the device will support online activity. All of this runs on a modified version of Microsoft’s existing Windows Tablet PC edition operating system.

I made a big point of saying how much I believe this technology will benefit communication in this highly mobile and technologically-influenced society last week. We are always on the move. I am typing this out right now on the bus to my next class. Time has become a luxury we no longer have and the advent of UMPCs is going to help us do what we have to on such a rushed schedule we all seem to have. You can read more about the first wave of UMPCs here: http://www.origamiproject.com.

What does peak my interest are the menu options for streaming media and games. This idea I intend to dive into next week. The potential for this technology is endless in my eyes with cost being the only limitation.

Edit: Added some pictures I ran across today. They are from msmobiles.com