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Origami: Just what’s Intel’s role–and are e-book-customized versions on the way?
March 3, 2006 | 5:22 am
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By David Rothman
Here, from Engadget. Could Intel be more heavily involved than expected–to the extent of the Origami really being the Ultra Mobile PC? Whatever’s cooking, I hope this baby will indeed be e-book-friendly.
One interesting possibility mentioned in the New York Times is that variants of the Origami could be customized for specific apps. Including e-books? The TeleBlog query from Paul Hoover, a member of the Origami designer team, certainly offers hope. Love or hate Microsoft, but it would be folly to entrust the e-book industry forever to PDAs, even if they’re probably the main show now among gung-ho recreational readers.
Related: Next Version of Tablet PC’s Said to Be Lighter and Smaller in the New York Timess and Intel chips to power new Microsoft device: NYT from Reuters.
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Comments:
[...] Microsoft wants feedback on Origami for e-book reading! Seems that Microsoft in interested in Origami as an e-book platform. Paul Hoover wrote the following comment on Mar 3…"I work on the Microsoft team responsible for Origami as a product designer. Do you have any feedback on the device shown from an e-book perspective?" TeleRead has the comment which was also referred to from here. How about it… anyone here have any ideas for him on what would make an Origami device a good or bad e-book reader? BTW, if I followed my Google links properly, it seems that Paul is also a writer, so his interest in the subject is probably quite genuine and deep, not "just" another work project. Last edited by BobR : Today at 06:59 AM. Reason: Replace image with correct one. [...]
I didn’t read the Times article till after I saw your post. After reading it, I would say your speculation is on point.
Steve Lohr of the Times writes that “The machines [are] designed to do one thing very well, and do a few other things as well — more like a consumer electronics product.
“One model, for example, might be geared toward gamers, but also allow e-mail and simple Web surfing. Another might … [allow users] to do e-mail messaging and read online publications as they do on a desktop without the weight.
” ‘We don’t want to create a Swiss Army knife …,’ Brad Graff [of Intel] … said yesterday.”
I believe in this category. I think people will sacrifice the ability to do everything on their ultra-mobile, so long as it allows them to do the two or three things they need and want to do away from their desktop. Limiting them to a single use — especially if it excludes surfing and e-mail, like the Sony Reader — is going to seem, well, hoggish.
If an Origami e-reader is reasonably priced, I think it would be of great interest.
you know, folks, if bill gates would have made good on his
promise to deliver tablets for under $1000 _years_ago_,
the thought of a $600 _intentionally-crippled_ machine
(lamely excused as “not wanting to be a swiss army knife”)
in 2006 would be so laughable _nobody_ would suggest it…
as it is, the laughable thing about these plans now is that
these intentionally-crippled machines will likely cost $1000.
microsoft should get out of the way and let apple lead us,
since apple knows how to integrate hardware and software.
-bowerbird
Will Origami devices be intentionally crippled? Or will they be like the Nokia 770, with certain features made easier to use than others, and the general nature of the device obscured somewhat but in no way crippled.
By way of example, the keyboardless 770 has browsing and surfing icons on its Home (aka desktop) view and a small editor for making short notes (yes, it slows down if you get past a few paragraphs). But you can add a Bluetooth keyboard and the 770 runs the full-scale AbiWord word processor if you obtain and install it yourself.
Actually installation in that case is literally two clicks. Other programs require more effort — not enough to stop the experienced user and probably not even something the single-focused user who is the target audience would even be aware of.
[...] Newspapers on demand for UMPC devices Microsoft and NewspaperDirect are teaming up to provide a service that offers newspapers on demand for mobile viewing on a UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC) such as the new Samsung Q1. A full list of titles can be found here, and it is a long list with multiple languages. Newpaper direct already provides online newspaper viewing, so this is a natural evolution of their services. In fact, they currently have hundreds of newspapers and expects the list to grow rapidly. The press release indicates that it is: * The first media content provider for Ultra-Mobile PCs * Building on NewspaperDirect’s multiple newspaper delivery channels The service is aimed as "the emerging mass market of typically young and technology savvy subscribers who wish to read news and access content while on the move." It’s not clear whether the agreement with Microsoft is to include reader and content access software with UMPC devices, or if it is in order to convert the software properly for UMPC devices, or maybe some different purpose altogether, but it does sound promising for mobile reading. Related: Back in March we brought you news from TeleRead and Engadget that Microsoft was interested in making the Origami a e-book reading device, and these are some early fruits of their push in the mobile content arena. I’m sure more is to come. Via OrigamiPortal [...]