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Origami Revealed.

Bad Beaver said:
You can do that with a WLAN equipped Palm + Salling Clicker.
Click to expand...

True, no doubt. I even carry a Treo 650 in my pocket. But while I'm a self-proclaimed geek, I really want my home to be a bit more elegant than a pocket gadget. Hence the desire for a larger, touch-enabled device. I want to be able to walk up to to, hit the touch screen, hit it w/ a hard-buttoned remote from across the room, etc.

I'm not above having this "wow-factor" in my house. The large screen (larger than a PDA) is a bonus to me.

Imagine...

You're having a party. Got 10-20 people in the house. Got FrontRow running on this thing (on OS X or thru VNC). Guests walk up, admire album art and play progess bar; they browse a playlist, add a song to the queue. They marvel in wonder and awe.

And I get to bask in all my geeky audio-video home theater glory. Yes, I'm a certifiable nerd. I still think this is cool. It's only geeky on the back end. On the surface, it's a really cool, high-end AV control unit.
 
icloud said:
I mean...for "checking your email while you in a coffe shop lineup" it may be practical, but to me this reallykinda follows the mold of a palm/functional computer and executes it poorly, I don't believe there is the same market for a laptop/palm as there is for the 2 individually. And if you want a portable device that 1. looks good 2. works, get a apple portable

nice idea "in theory", but i dont see a huge market for a cheap/subpar pc
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Sounds like a recipe for getting mugged! If I really want to check my email on the move, I use my mobile phone.
 
Not a New product idea

Aside from the keyboard (BFD) the only noteworthy element of this product is the price. These sorts of handtop computers have been made for several years now in Japan for 1500-2000$. Mass US production and MS' press(ure) has lowered the price for these new products. Look at this site to see other, much better looking, products that also run winXP on tiny displays--and these have much more battery.

http://www.kemplar.com/handtops.php
 
BWhaler said:
So what, they've rebranded the tablet and are trying again with a fake grass roots marketing plan to see if it will see this time.

I like to encourage innovation everywhere--even from Microsoft--but this thing is not it.
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I think you're exactly right. The only difference, in my view, is that this is a response to the success of the iPod and PSP rather than a notebook. So why make it the anti-iPod in terms of its design? I still contend that a great portion of Apple's success is due to the superior design rather than objective performance. Apple might be the only OEM producing computers and peripherals that make you want to hold them in your hands and feel the artistry that went into them.

I'm not sure what the last innovative thing was that came out of Redmond...can anyone help me?
 
miketcool said:
I have had one of these things for years, Texas Instruments made it eons ago. The battery life dominates the Origami, I can truly go anywhere with it!

nmah2000_07530.jpg


;)
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That's clearly a fake of Apple's new video Ipod!

I'm not sure why people are dissing M'Soft's PaperMache. It's got all the games of the PSP plus the features of a top end Nokia phone with the intuitive usability of the iPod. And the case design is way better than Jonathan Ive's most vivid wet dream.
 
Imagine

Jerence said:
Take the 12" iBook - shrink it a bit more. Put the guts behind the display, not under the keyboard. Make the display detachable from the keyboard (keyboard is like a docking / charging station). Make the screen touch / pen sensitive. Add something like a backstrap on the back of it to make it easy to hold in one hand, while intefacing with it with the other (makes it more "notepad like" and even easier to use as a portable phone/videophone)

Voila.

A portable, keyboardless, completely Mac-ish unit, runs all Mac software, has wireless, bluetooth (and to bring it up to date, iSight in it too :) ) - it would do it all. Bigger videos - more music - and everything else you love about your mac, without having the laptop / folding enclosure form factor. But you can still have this if you want it - just dock it to the keyboard... which also could dock you to your big monitor, all your USB peripherals, etc.

I would buy this in an instant.
Click to expand...


Can't you just see Steve demoing this kind of thing? Yeehaw...

...up from the floor rises what looks like a tiny iBook - and works just like it - ho hum so far. But then he lifts off the display - gasps and Oooos from the conference attendees - while watching a DVD (slid in behind the screen ala the iMac), and slips it onto his hand, goes into iTunes to buy the music from the soundtrack of the movie playing [it's a Disney/Pixar feature, of course], then calls Phil in video iChat to have him mail him some document... he gets the mail, then takes a picture of the audience and mails it back to Phil, all while he is walking around on the stage... then he docks the pad on the keyboard again - mail and itunes libraries sync up with home computer(s)...

Then he lists the features...

1.83 gHz Intel Duo chip
256 MB RAM
60 gig HD
Slot loading SuperDrive
Touch sensitive / pen enabled display
Built in stylus
10 hour battery life

Available TODAY

Price, $999

The crowd cheers... ... ...


Think different.
Dream on.
 
That's a huge Bitch!

it's massive! you might as well get a laptop. I guess it really depends on the price and specifications these come in.
 
IJ Reilly said:
Just what the world needs, a Newton that runs Windows.
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what?
the newton was a piece of garbage!
i am so sick of this forum claiming the newton was some sort of superior device! get over it, IT WASNT SUCCESFUL.
 
Microslop has 800 zillion dollars in the bank and this is the best they can come up with?

That thing is butt ugly and not very useful.
 
herbalizer said:
Microslop has 800 zillion dollars in the bank and this is the best they can come up with?

That thing is butt ugly and not very useful.
Click to expand...

I think the concept is fundamentally flawed.. but let's be realistic here, the aesthetics of the devices will be up to the vendors and not Microsoft.. what the demonstration device MS touted looks like isn't of much importance.
 
Jerence said:
Can't you just see Steve demoing this kind of thing? Yeehaw...

...up from the floor rises what looks like a tiny iBook - and works just like it - ho hum so far. But then he lifts off the display - gasps and Oooos from the conference attendees - while watching a DVD (slid in behind the screen ala the iMac), and slips it onto his hand, goes into iTunes to buy the music from the soundtrack of the movie playing [it's a Disney/Pixar feature, of course], then calls Phil in video iChat to have him mail him some document... he gets the mail, then takes a picture of the audience and mails it back to Phil, all while he is walking around on the stage... then he docks the pad on the keyboard again - mail and itunes libraries sync up with home computer(s)...
Click to expand...

I think I need a cigarette...:)
 
mac.FINN said:
Aside from this looking like it's another useless gadget, I have one major concern.

A windows pc that I can hold in my hand... which means that after being frustrated with windows (repeatedly) I'd probably end up getting angry and just toss the thing into the nearest lake. I bet the damn thing wouldn't even skip...
Click to expand...

I think it'd be much more rewarding to smash it into little pieces. I might just get one to do that.

Didn't Gizmondo just go bust from selling a very similar looking piece of kit but much nicer. How long can M'Soft keep producing tripe like this and have people buying it?
 
This all seems cool, but I don't really see this type of thing taking off anytime soon. And not only that, but the unit pictured at Engadget seems bulky to me... but it's a portable computer, so it will shrink down in the years to come. If Apple came out with a UMPC of some kind, I'd definitely look into it. But for now, a portable version of Windows XP... ick. :mad:
 
Keep it simple

Keep it simple and it will have a better chance of success.

For example, limit it to web access (browser, email). This is perhaps the only feature you'll need. This will keep it running for awhile on a single charge.

If you add DVDs then the battery would just go down.

Remember resist the impulse of a person (most likely a man) who wants to include everything under the sun into this device.

I'll use my iPod to listen to my music. I can't see my earbud being connect to something this big.

I'll will definitely buy this as a "personal" computer replacement, if it can access the web and I can use it say ~6 hours. Apple brand of course!

Remember, the iPod is successful, because it does one thing well!

Cinch
 
Philsy said:
Tell you what, this thing is getting loads of news coverage
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4789496.stm
Microsoft obviously has better PR people than Apple...:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Actually the BBC is usually really good about running articles on when Apple makes new products. I believe that there was even an article when they came out with the new Mac Mini. When was the last time there was a new story when a new PC came out? But, I do agree that M$ has been putting all their marketing muscle behind this thing. We're discussing it on a Mac Forum for pete's sake ;)
 
Many industrial uses for a device like this

This thing has some uses for example I can envision an application usedin a werehouse. The facility is riged with WiFi and the werehousmen carry these around and it tells them what to pick up andthe location of the bin or pallet. A mail order fulfilment outfit where they pickorders and box them for UPS shipment. It would make a nic map display device too. Or what about industrial instrumentation - it's a perfect thing to use as a remove control pannel for (say) a machine that fill hair spray cans A waterproof version of this would fit in nicely at the helm station of my sailboat. It could display data from nav, wind and other instruments. Many specialized uses but I don't seethis replacing an iPod or a cell phone it's just to big to carry around every place you go. But some day a UPS driver may hand you one and say "please sign here".
 
Brutally Honest

Shaker said:
Origami: A Sum of Two Failures

Wow, the press reallly hates this....with all the bad publicity, this thing is doomed in less than 6 months....The article is right on...Steve Jobs is not losing sleep over this one.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ZDM/story?id=1705239
Click to expand...

I think that blurb sums it up very well. I hadn't even heard of the "portable media center" that this is purported to replace.

I find it intriguing that this announcement has generated this much of a response in a MR thread, not that the interest or commentary is misplaced. Perhaps it is because so many within these forums anticipate Apple introducing something similar.

I think the next innovation should come in the area of touchscreens. It's an intuitive input, and the range of possibilities is certainly wide, but I think styli are a thing of the past. If Apple can integrate a touch-sensitive screen into everything from the iPod to the notebooks and even the Cinema Displays and do it the right way without smudges, that may be the next evolutionary step in computing.
 
WOW. Thats an interesting product. Shame it has such low specs and OS. Maybe if apple raised the bar and bought out their version of a tablet we'd all be happy. YAY! For apple.:p
 
Cinch said:
Keep it simple and it will have a better chance of success.

For example, limit it to web access (browser, email). This is perhaps the only feature you'll need. This will keep it running for awhile on a single charge.
Click to expand...

I agree, though it should have iPod functions too (and possibly text to speech to speak your email to you) ...


It also needs to iPod style sync with your PC or Mac.

It should also have USB so you can plug in a keyboard or digital camera if you want too.

And note taking/possibly drawing on the screen too.
 
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