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Origami Not A Gaming Machine

Posted by Zonk on Thu Mar 02, 2006 02:58 PM
from the waste-of-a-good-tablet dept.
Microsoft Entertainment Games
Gamespot reports that despite earlier reports, Microsoft's Origami isn't intended as a portable Xbox. From the article: "As shown in the leaked video, Origami machines will feature a touch-sensitive screen a la Microsoft's tablet PC line, will run Windows XP, and will be priced lower than most full-size laptops, running from around $500 to $1,000. If that price tag seems too low for a mobile PC with a high-end graphics chip--which would be necessary to run the Halo footage shown in the leaked concept video--that's because it is. The AP article says flat-out that the Origami is 'not a portable version of Microsoft's Xbox videogame console,' nor is it 'a music player designed to take on Apple Computer Inc.'s mega-popular iPod.'"
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[+] Microsoft Origami To Play Halo 44 comments
Gamasutra reports on elements of the Microsoft project code-named Origami, which has been revealed through some snooping to be a tablet PC. The device is shown playing Halo indicating there is likely to be some gaming aspect to the product. From the article: "Previous to the appearance of the DigitalKitchen video, Bill Gates had discussed a mobile PC concept at a conference in Seattle last year, where a non-working device called the Ultra Mobile 2007 was shown. At the time, Gates indicated that the device should have an 'all-day' battery life, weigh less than a pound and cost between $500 and $800. Microsoft has indicated it will unveil more details of the Origami Project 'in the coming weeks'."
[+] Hardware: What is Microsoft's Origami Project? 243 comments
An anonymous reader writes "Rumors are running around the web about a new Microsoft gadget codenamed Origami that will be unveiled on March 2nd. Speculation can be found on Designtastesgood, Scobleizer, and Thatedeguy, and WindowsForDevices has a description and photos of a prototype Origami device built by National Semiconductor 2001. Anybody out there know more about this new device?"
[+] Hardware: Microsoft Origami Unfolds 469 comments
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.
[+] Hardware: Pepper Pad, an Open Alternative to MS Origami 188 comments
SilentBob4 writes to tell us that MadPenguin has a look at an open alternative to Microsoft's Origami, the Pepper Pad. From the article: "The Pepper Pad, like Origami, is a mid-point form factor PC that is bigger and more powerful than a PDA, but smaller and less optimized for traditional desktop PC tasks than a notebook computer or a desktop PC. The Pepper Pad is a good buy for people who would like to have a light-weight, dirt-simple, point-and-click open source device for watching videos, listening to music, reading e-books, and doing simple web surfing with a view screen that is actually easy to read. If you want do more than that, you are really better off getting a small Linux notebook, unless you are willing to get under the hood (which you can do with the Pepper Pad!) and start compiling for yourself."
[+] Xbox Author Discusses Microsoft Handheld 65 comments
Dean Takahashi wrote an authoritative book on Microsoft's original console, called 'Opening the Xbox'. We're fortunate enough to be able to read a similar work on their next-gen console, a book entitled The Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Takahashi did an interview recently with Kyle Orland, of Videogame Media Watch. There he lays out the challenges of reporting on the industry, and getting publishers to understand the subject matter. Eurogamer reports that part of the book discusses a Microsoft handheld gaming system. From that article: "Takahashi claims the team was split in two following the launch of the Xbox 360, leaving the other half to work solely on reducing production costs for Microsoft's next-gen console. According to the writer, the portable is planned to be released halfway into Xbox 360's lifespan, a strategy to assuage the crippling costs of moving through hardware cycles. A Microsoft gaming handheld has been long-rumoured, the latest occurrence adding fuel to this particular fire being the release of a movie for the company's Origami project. A promotional video for the handheld PC showed Halo 2 running on its screen."
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Origami Not A Gaming Machine 25 Comments More /

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  • My guess (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mahdi13 (660205) <icarus.lnx@gmail.com> on Thursday March 02 2006, @03:06PM (#14836779) Homepage Journal
    It's just an expensive PDA that will do way too many things that most people will never use

    We'll see tomorrow...
    • My dates are all off, it's next week they'll anounce it

      let this be a lesson for you kids, get plenty of sleep or you'll make yourself look like a fool in public :)
      • let this be a lesson for you kids, get plenty of sleep or you'll make yourself look like a fool in public :)

        This is Slashdot, your post fit right in.
    • Sounds like a gaming tablet. Basically, MS's answer to the DS. Some place they can get hand-held FPS and RTS games onto the market without sucking up to Nintendo.

  • Hmm... (Score:3, Informative)

    by JoeLinux (20366) <joelinux.gmail@com> on Thursday March 02 2006, @03:08PM (#14836791) Homepage
    Bigger than a newton, less powerful than a laptop, touch sensitive so you have to shield it when not in use, not a large battery life, and running XP.

    Wow. What demographic are they trying to hit?

    • Re:Hmm... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Sabotage (21481) on Thursday March 02 2006, @03:11PM (#14836821)
      Isn't it obvious?

      Management.

    • Re:Hmm... (Score:4, Funny)

      by AuMatar (183847) on Thursday March 02 2006, @03:13PM (#14836847)
      THe usual one- the stupid demographic.

      Unfortunately, this is about 99% of America at the moment.

      • Re:Hmm... (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Bigger than a newton, less powerful than a laptop, short battery life. Lame.
      • How about 99% of the globe? I doubt that America has a monopoly on stupid idiots.
      • Actually they are looking for the stupid and rich category.

        According to Dogbert (somewhere on one of scot adams sites) there are always 4 target demographics:

        The smart and poor
        The smart and rich
        The dumb and poor
        The dumb and rich

        I'd say they are going to the 4th option.

        • Re:Hmm... (Score:4, Funny)

          by DarkMantle (784415) on Friday March 03 2006, @01:01AM (#14840651) Homepage
          there are always 4 target demographics:

          The smart and poor
          The smart and rich
          The dumb and poor
          The dumb and rich
          And here's the percentages
          The smart and poor - 2%
          The smart and rich - 3%
          The dumb and poor - 80%
          The dumb and rich - 15%
  • In the video, they show the screen being used with a stylus, like a Tablet PC. That would suggest a Wacom-style digitizer, which is NOT the same as being "touch sensitive".
  • I thought the whole point was to provide a replacement for the Blackberry. If they had a system that was super-integrated with Exchange, they could easily win over all the Blackberry-addicted executives if RIM had to shut down.

    With RIM still around, i bet its still a Blackberry competitor. Network admins would love a single solution integrated with Exchange and Active Directory.
  • Future history will most likely prove me wrong, but maaaaaaybe THIS is Bill Gates' challenge to Negroponte's $100 Laptop! After all, MS smalled the $100 laptop as too large... and that everyone should be able to have one! (And oh yeah, fine print, it's $500, runs a closed-source OS and can't be charged with a hand crank)
  • Sounds like a cross between a Nintendo DS and a Blackberry.

    There are lots of attempts to come up with a new form factor and a market niche to go with it. It's getting wierd. Apple's new iPod speakers have the form factor of a ghetto blaster. (There's a strong resemblance between the Apple Hi-Fi and the 1984 Radio Shack boombox with a dock for a Sony Walkman. [pocketcalculatorshow.com])

  • Notes from a PSP user (Score:3, Interesting)

    by shut_up_man (450725) on Thursday March 02 2006, @04:35PM (#14837505) Homepage
    I own a PSP, and most of my usage of it isn't games - it's mobile video. Even if Origami (or as it more probably will be titled, the Microsoft VistaPad XP Professional) can't do games, I think it has definite potential. The direct advantage it would have over the PSP is that since it runs XP natively, it could play any kind of movie format that is available on the PC without conversion. Having to convert everything to PSP video formats is a pain. That's almost enough for me to buy one right there, although obviously the battery life, screen, weight, hard drive size, wireless options, system toughness and price will factor in pretty heavily, not to mention that this entire thing is still in the "concept" stage and may change radically if and when it ever arrrives on a sales floor.

    It's interesting to note that since Vista has such beefy 3D hardware requirements to run Aero Glass, the Microsoft VistaPad XP Professional won't actually be able to run Vista without reverting to XP-style effects. I don't want it to run some horrible lobotomized version of Windows Mobile though.

    The other, more interesting question is... will it run Linux?

  • Gaff's tinfoil unicorn? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by payndz (589033) on Thursday March 02 2006, @05:22PM (#14837893)
    the Origami is 'not a portable version of Microsoft's Xbox videogame console,' nor is it 'a music player designed to take on Apple Computer Inc.'s mega-popular iPod.'

    Then what is it? It's not an iPod, it's not a PSP, it's not a Mini-Xbox, and apparently it's not a computer either.

    You know what I want? I want a 21st century equivalent of my Psion Series 5. I don't want a cut-down Windows PC/PDA combo that does 27,000 things, none of them even remotely as well as a desktop or laptop, as a portable - I want something that does a good job with basic tasks like word processing (and things like playing MP3s are now included in that), fits in a pocket, works off a couple of AA batteries and has a keyboard. Stylus plus keyboard may not be the most convenient way of working... but it's better than stylus and no keyboard.

    Oh, and I'd like it to integrate seamlessly with OS X. Steve Jobs, are you there?

  • I know what it is... (Score:3, Funny)

    by CoolMoDee (683437) on Thursday March 02 2006, @05:32PM (#14837977) Homepage Journal
    It's a chair, that folds on impact, kind of like oragami. It is going to save Microsoft loads of cash with all the chair throwing that they like to do up there.

  • I think I should warn Slashdotters... (Score:4, Funny)

    by DiamondGeezer (872237) on Thursday March 02 2006, @07:02PM (#14838782) Homepage
    ...that I'm a 3rd Dan Black belt in origami. What I can do to you will just a sheet of copier paper can make your eyes water. Remember, that a thousand paper cuts can really hurt!

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