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Microsoft Origami "Lifestyle PC"

yac_moda said:
Oooh, Ooh ...

It definitely a multimedia serving somethin or rather, cellphone++ !!!

Apple just bought a HUGE data center !!! :eek:
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If that had anything to do with tomorrows announcement, they would have bought it 6mo ago...

Even ignoring that, there is plenty of possibility that it has nothing to do with any product. A company like Apple has lots of data center needs.

-eric
 
beatle888 said:
thats a "bitchin" graphic? thats ugly fugly and looks like something from a sci-fi movie from the seventies/eighties.
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Yeah, "bitchin" must mean "fugly" now, that's for sure...I really hope MS releases this piece of crap, so they can go down under more quickly than originally thought...but for me, this is as "concrete" as Viiv...pure vaporware.
 
balamw said:
Earlier this month, the author of a blog called Engadget described the device this way: " … One notable spec that could differentiate this one: Microsoft is apparently insisting that this run the full version of Windows."
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Which will be it's fatal flaw... Nothing they show it doing has any requirement for running full blown Windows or even that WinCE/PocketPC monstrosity. All this is going to do is add a bunch of code the device doesn't need and make the interface completely counter-intuitive so that it can be "consistent" with an entirely different class of computer.

Apple understood this when it built the Newton and then again when it built the iPod. They didn't try to shoehorn a desktop OS into a portable device with a unique interface.

Say what you will about the color scheme, but I'd love a device that makes good on the concepts shown in the video-- but Windows will make it completely unusable unless they bolt on even more kludgy code.

MS thinks their advantage in any market is their Windows monopoly, so they try and cram it into everything. First they made some misguided attempts at stripping it down, then when that didn't work they thought the problem was "not enough Windows"? No, the problem is that devices like this aren't meant to replace your computer, they're meant to augment it.

While the modular nature of OS X would make it easier for Apple to take the pieces it needs and leave out or replace the pieces that don't fit, I don't think I want an OS X tablet either-- I want a tablet running something closer to Newton OS. A system that understands its purpose in life, not a way to run Pages with a stylus.
 
Evan_11 said:
I think there are two ways to go at it. One being a PDA that fits in your pocket the other is a regular laptop (12" or so) that also functions as a tablet.
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I can't help but feel that you are soooo wrong. There is a much more functional alternative to the PDA/PocketPC and much more portable alternative to tablet pc's.

PDA's are too small. Tablet pc's are... well... the sales speak for themselves.

Rip the screen off that tablet pc, make it clipboard sized or at most 9" x 12" for one handed holding and full page [8.5" x 11"] / 8" x 10" photo / widescreen video viewing [dare I say HD?], put a photo album type stand in the back for portrait and landscape orientations, keep stylus input [using InkWell] and add virtual keyboard/gesture/multi-point touch input, wireless networking/control [WiFi, Bluetooth, IR], "lite" version of Mac OS X with updates available via software update or an external optical drive if one is not included internally [full Mac OS X if optical drive is included], keep Firewire/USB/Ethernet/etc. peripheral connectivity, introduce a movie store for both this and the "vPod"... BAM!!!

MacPod/MacPad!!!

Apple's new networked digital lifestyle device for home and/or office at 1/3 the cost of the FAILED tablet pc [$600-$700] and with 3x the functionality of PDA's/PocketPC's that are too small.
 
Honestly, I think that thing looks like a cheap piece of crap. It just looks like cheap plastic, with an oversized enclosure for that screen. I mean what the heck? It looks like the Sega GameGear in terms of size of enclosure relative to screen size.
 
I really like the idea of it. Sure, Apple's design and software will make it a winner, but the idea of such a device is very very tempting. It would be extremely useful for me at work, at home, and on long journeys if it has decent battery life (6 hours has to be around the corner for some Apple products!). Like some folks have said, maybe MS are trying to get a march on something they already know about over in the Apple camp - at least I hope thats the case.

Hopefully at some point this year it'll happen - if not later today :D
 
Polish97 said:
A handtop device running full windows is already out and it's very well done. It's the OQO. www.oqo.com Others have already been released like the cPC which runs XP and Windows Mobile 5.0 at the same time. Why would it be such a strange thing for MS to come out with this product now? [/img]
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The OQO and similar boxes are almost $2000. MS is saying there will be a tablet for $500 which I doubt.

If other companies are already making these, who cares if MS is doing one too?
 
kntgsp said:
Honestly, I think that thing looks like a cheap piece of crap. It just looks like cheap plastic, with an oversized enclosure for that screen. I mean what the heck? It looks like the Sega GameGear in terms of size of enclosure relative to screen size.
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You have to keep in mind, that this is likely a proof of concept device. Microsoft doesn't actually make the hardware. They will be releasing a set of specs and standards, and then it will be up to companies like HP to make a real product out of it.

Honestly, lots of people say flat plastic products look cheap, but as soon as they add a fake metal paint it looks sturdy and expensive... Thats the way lots of PDAs go, they make it a shimmery grey so that it looks 'sturdy'.
 
it does look like a food tray - and that thing in green looked like a wooden prototype knocked up by crappy design tutor paul sayers but i will buy one if i can put os x on it :p :D
 
Haha, omg, I was just waiting for a blue screen to pop up on that etch-a-sketch! M$ was lucky enough to make it through without a crash. Sorry, I just had to say that.

M$ is going the desperate route or they are just trying to hype up Vista through something dinky as a Origami " 'I'm Free T-Shirt' Edition". Good grief, even if Microsoft were to ever come out with an "iPod killer", I'm positive that Apple would be right on their tails with something even better.
 
I just saw the video, and i'm tempted also. This video is old, and i'm sure the form factor has been redone. But it they might be trying to doo too much, going after the PSP and the iPod. They've done there job so far, atleast i'm interested.

I think Apple should hurry up and enter the cellphone/PDA arena. I know a lot of people who are starting to use those Windows Mobile phones. Hell I have one, but i'd switch to a Apple as soon as one was release.
 
balamw said:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060228/tc_nm/microsoft_origami_dc

B
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That's a dissapointment, I was excited to hear the news.

It amazed me how quickly this thread went from interesting conversation about a potentially useful piece of technology... to a troll-fest. Amazing.. the number of people who visit the front page only, have nothing to add to the conversation yet add a quick post along the lines of "this is stupid and anyone who disagrees is dumb, its ugly, apple is so much better."

I sincerely doubt anyone who has ever owned a tablet has posted comments regarding the technology as stupid, or dumb, and pointless. Yet these comments are all throughout this thread... they amount to nothing more than ignorance.

In the future, any thread I'm subscribed to that gets linked to the front page I will simply delete my subscription to immediately. My tolerance for this fan-boy nonsense has worn thin.
 
cr2sh said:
That's a dissapointment, I was excited to hear the news.
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Hmm.. it sait "no announcement", as initially rumored, but would a new flash teaser be an announcement?

Perhaps Microsoft thought that, after the Apple "fun" event was not as much fun as expected, there's no reason to give away more information before next week ;-)
 
sixstorm said:
Good grief, even if Microsoft were to ever come out with an "iPod killer", I'm positive that Apple would be right on their tails with something even better.
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Yeah.. like an iPod Hi Fi mini ;-)
 
Ugh...I want to know the specs and when I can buy it! :mad:

I NEED a device like this if it has long battery life and decent specs!
 
Origami: eww, too big, ugly, clumsy, probably too expensive, maybe with global wiMax connection, but this is definitly as handy as an empty printcartridge for an obsolete printer

Typically windows, trying to see what the consumer wants, and then pushing them into buying something that is "a bit" what they want, and offering them no other choice.

I am a bit worried though, that they might have an advantage after Steve's lesser performance and the 28th.
 
So is there an annoucement today or not from MS?

The website seems to have just added a few more meaningless 'i'm here, do you know me' images of landscapes and now says find out more on the 9th of March. Was the 2nd March announcement just to let us know to wait until the 9th?
 
I've just watched the latest update of the Origami promo site and apparently it works on the top of a snow-capped mountain :eek:

Wi-fi connection on the top of Everest - looks like Microsoft have something "really extra special" up their sleeves ;)
 
weg said:
Perhaps Microsoft thought that, after the Apple "fun" event was not as much fun as expected, there's no reason to give away more information before next week ;-)
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That's exactly what I'm thinking.

I see it like miCrapsoft saying, "Apple's going to talk about their multi-point touch sensitive input technology and the products they're going to use them in like the rumored vPod and/or MacPod [PDA/tablet hybrid]. We better bump our March 2nd announcement up to the same day to show that we're working on something similar. Oh, new Mac Mini's and iPod Hi-Fi?!... ABORT!!!"

Seriously though, the first thing I thought when SJ did this event on Tuesday was "40 minutes?". I felt like it was cut short the same way that MWSF was in January. 20 more minutes for a full 1 hour presentation makes much more sense and would be plenty of time to introduce a vPod and possibly the accompanying movie download store.

I know there's a game going on here and neither side wants to "show their hand" yet. I think SJ and Apple may have planned to demo/introduce more technology [multi-point touch input] /products [vPod... I really think the MacPod would be saved for the anniversary event] / and services [iMovie Video Store], but decided to wait and see what miCrapsoft was going to demo later that night instead.

I think that Apple just wanted to make a much better presentation than what they may have planned and that the 30th anniversary event is going to be REALLY good!!!
 
mpw said:
The website seems to have just added a few more meaningless 'i'm here, do you know me' images of landscapes and now says find out more on the 9th of March. Was the 2nd March announcement just to let us know to wait until the 9th?
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Did you really expect anything else from the company behind the always on time projects Chicago, Cairo, and Longhorn? These became Windows 95, NT, and Vista. Allichin was recently quoted that Vista's search capability finally implements what they intended for Cairo, i.e. > 10 years ago.

B
 
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