The Microsoft Origami Project
The net is a-buzz with hints and speculations about this new product about to be released from Microsoft. The “Official” Microsoft site for this new product is located at http://www.origamiproject.com. This site, according to WHOIS, is owned by Microsoft Corporation.
The site doesn’t say much, a nice Flash introduction simply says: more to be announced on March 2, 2006.
Other Sites Say Much More
A video production company, Digital Kitchen, presents a great streaming video, several minutes long, that says a lot without words. You can locate it at http://www.d-kitchen.com/main.html. The navigation is Flash controlled, so click on “Enter”, “Work”, “Brandtheatre”, “Microsoft Origami”, then “play: origami” to start the video stream buffering.
What follows is a very high quality advertisement for the “Brand Concept” of a mobile device, now named Microsoft Origami. The device, in general terms, can be considered a smaller version of a Microsoft Tablet PC, but with adjustments that may make it more successful in the marketplace.
The existing Microsoft Tablet PC brand concept is very interesting technically, but has never shipped in high volume. Due to it’s high cost relative to notebook PC’s and short battery life (3-4 hours), the Tablet PC just hasn’t excited most buyers . Other mobile devices in the Microsoft stable include the existing Windows Mobile Smartphone and Windows Mobile Pocket PC product lines. These devices have made significant progress, but are limited by their small screen size.
A Shrewd Remedy
The Microsoft Origami concept appears to be a very shrewd remedy to some of the limitations in the current Microsoft brands. One major issue is hardware cost, and the way to tackle that is simply volume production. For example, the current Nintendo DS game device offers a very large quantity of technology including dual processors, wireless communication, dual LCD screens and more, all at a price point of about $100 US. This is achievable because Nintendo has sold millions of these units within a few months after it’s introduction to the marketplace.
From the Microsoft Origami streaming video advertisement, it is quite clear that one major target market for the Origami device is the consumer, for both music and gaming. It is a market that can easily absorb millions of units. Other cost saving measures include omitting a camera, and cellular wireless, using only (perhaps) 802.11 WLAN and Bluetooth. No cellular radio also means not having to negotiate with the cellular telecom providers, an expensive and time consuming process.
The Origami device makes up for the lack of cellular capability by including Bluetooth connectivity to the cell phone you probably already own. The Origami device actively synergizes with your cell phone, not only for connectivity to the Internet or VPN, but also by displaying pictures and video from your cell phone camera. The idea here is that Origami complements, but largely does not replace the capabilities you already have on your cell phone.
If the price is driven down to, say $250 US, by the large manufacturing volumes, it will appeal to the gadget loving consumer market and businesses too.
What Else Can You Do With Origami?
Well, it appears to include an 800 x 600 pixel full color touch screen display along with Windows Vista as an operating system. With it’s (presumed) onboard WLAN wireless, it can act as display device for your Media Center PC in your home.
It’s intermediate physical size and pen based screen make it very useful for all sorts of business uses–medical, warehouse, delivery, and retail applications. It’s low cost and simplified hardware complement makes it ideal for large scale deployment in the enterprise.
We believe the Microsoft Origami device to be very exciting product that it can be highly successful for both consumer and business uses. More details, including some screen shots from the streaming video are available at: http://msmobiles.com/news.php/4963.html.
Don’t Miss It
We recommend that OEMs and ISVs looking to include mobility in their solutions should pay attention to Microsoft’s Origami announcement on March 2, 2005. We sure will!
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