To watch the video, go here, then navigate the flash site: Enter > Work > BrandTheatre > Microsoft Origami. The direct link for download is here in .flv and here in .mpg. You will need a player capable of playing .flv files, such as flv player or mplayer.
Or watch it here:
This video reveals a LOT about the Origami. The slogan appears to be "You are FREE". People who have watched this video have compared it OQO, PDAs and tablet PCs. While there are many similarities, there are a few differences. From the video, I gather that the Origami has the following functions/accessories:
- Stylus
- Short range wireless capability such as Bluetooth
- Quick email/note sending
- Sketching/Drawing/Doodling
- GPS navigation
- MP3 player
- Touchscreen
- Docking station
- Dynamic photo frame
- Wireless media controller for your Windows PC
- Stream audio from your PC to it?
- Long range wireless capability such as wifi
- Gaming console with integrated controller buttons
- Optional external keyboard with case
Obviously, it has functions that no available device in the market (that I know of) has. With regards to its size, judging by the video, it looks about the size of a personal organiser (one of those that you write in with a real pen). These are my estimate of its dimensions - length: 20cm, width: 35cm and height: 3cm.
So with the size out of the way, it's time for more important things like the OS. This is truly guesswork as the video doesn't really show much of it. It probably runs Windows XP, possibly the full version of it or the tablet version. That's nice, I just hope it can run other OSes. I'm not gonna try to guess things like the processor, harddisk, graphics accelerator or memory as that would be as useful as plucking figures from the air.
What I would like to know however, is where the optical drive is hidden or if there's even one. Or is it another external accessory? I guess they didn't include that since they figured many people don't use optical media while on the go. I know I don't.
Another critical point is the battery life. Considering that it has many things to zap battery life (wifi, color screen, playing mp3s), it had better have some outstanding, long-lasting battery. Sure a laptop/tablet/PDA/OQO probably has about the same number of power hungry components, but I expect the Origami to be an all-in-one device that I can use while travelling (since it seems to be marketed in the ad as one). I'm not sure about you, but I sure don't power up my laptop while on a bus. Even if it were a PDA/OQO, I wouldn't waste battery life unnecessarily. For the Origami however, I want to listen to mp3s while playing halo on the bus and after all that, still have enough juice to work on documents. I'm hoping for a conservative 2 hours of fun and 4 - 5 hours for dull work, which is about or a bit longer than the life of normal laptops with souped up batteries. Of course I would love longer playing/working times, but comparing with similar devices leads me to believe this is the max it can last w/o charging.
And that rounds up my take on the Origami. Btw, the website www.taikoux.com from the video points a filler site at the moment. Also, the origami reminds me of the one hundred dollar laptop, just that it's a more expensive version.
Update: The original link has been taken down. And Microsoft says that the video is a year old and more changes could be in store for us. Sadly, over at Scobleizer, it is revealed that only details of the Origami will be released on March 2, 2006.
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