OK, they didn’t actually mention Origami once but as they talk around the target usage scenarios for the iPad, all I hear is praise for the market that, just a few months ago was a non-starter and is exactly what Origami was aiming for. The true personal computer is here, the sofa tablet is here, the comfortable web experience is here, the consumer-centric OS is here and it’s everything that Microsoft was aiming for with Origami but couldn’t deliver because they were 4 years to early. Technology and operating systems couldn’t turn their dream into reality and it died in a concept called Haiku.

Of course, now that the space between 4 and 10 inch is news, everyone is happy to praise it’s potential. Oh brother!

Despite my moaning (really, I should have shouted louder three years ago!,) the round table that was recorded on the Charlie Rose show (U.S. public broadcast) is a good one.

Charlie Rose had The Wall Street Journal/All Things D’s Walt Mossberg, The New York Times’ David Carr and our own Michael Arrington on his show Thursday night to talk about the Apple iPad

Source: Charlie Rose. Via:Techcrunch

If you remember back as far as 2006, you might remember the Haiku tablet which was part of Microsoft’s Origami project. It was a prototype and it never reached a production line.

Origami was all about mobility, connectivity and style but the PC technology and operating systems of the time just couldn’t deliver the dream. The Origami project and team were eventually closed down.

Look to 2010 and you have this:

It’s a 7 inch tablet PC by ICT called the Ultra and is aimed and mobility, connectivity scenarios with a good pinch of style. The technology IS ready now and this product should be getting a lot of airtime at CES in just a few weeks. Engadget have already had hands-on.

The operating system is Android 2.0 which doesn’t have the productivity focus that Microsoft might have wanted but that’s probably a good thing. Squeezing Excel cells into a 7 inch screen was always a challenge.

Ironically neither Microsoft or Intel are involved in this device. The ICT Ultra is based on an Nvidia platform running an ARM core.

More information, specifications and some analysis over at Carrypad.

A sad moment and one I tried to stop. Origamiproject.com, along with all our links, tips and content, is gone forever.

I had a number of emails with people at Microsoft to try and get the content moved somewhere else but it seems that they simply wanted to remove it from their portfolio. Spam management won’t have helped the situation but I’m wondering if they wanted to remove it from their history too.

Along with UMPC.com (which Intel let lapse into a spam-fest and then into the hands of someone that’s obviously waiting for a re-sale; We tried to secure that domain too!) it was an important part of the online history of the ultra mobile PC that has faded away along with many of the other blogs that were around in 2006.

Another UMPC-related site that is closing its doors to consumers is BuildYourUMPC.com. These guys were very active in promoting the ultra mobile PC in the early days and I remember the effort they put into a good set of overview videos. We heard today that BuildYourultra mobile PC will be focusing on commercial projects in the near future and that the current site will be switched off soon. They have some stock left though so check it for bargains.

It’s a sad day for UMPC’s but the future is looking better. This month has been one of the best months in a long long time for UMPCPortal. More products, more buzz, more advertisers and more enquiries than ever before so we have no problem with carrying the flag. We can see the light, people!

NOTE. This article was written in 2009.

Three years ago today, Microsoft’s Origamiproject.com went live as a teaser website. [See original teaser page] One of the people to spot it was ‘Designtastesgood‘ who appears to have lit the fuse by sending a link to Robert Scoble who effectively posted another teaser. Engadget’s editor-in-chief at the time, Ryan Block, picked it up, added an image he’d acquired and wrote an article that evening which has 190 comments on it. If you have time, scan through them!

“So today Microsoft officially flipped the switch on the buzz machine for their Origami Project — an atypical viral marketing manuveur for a company whose products are usually known about years ahead of time. Scoble says its a device, the Internet’s lighting up with rumors — is it the Xbox portable? Well, we dunno, but as usual got our hands on some pictures. And as usual we can’t guarantee they’re the real deal, though we are pretty confident in their source. So, let’s go over it: these were sent to us detailing it as a Microsoft portable media player, which wouldn’t be too far off from what Jobs and BusinessWeek both prophesied Microsoft doing (despite being pretty broadly denied from within).”

Read the full story

Is it because it’s Sunday?

A few days ago Engadget posted a rather sarcastic item about the Loam F7. Actually it was spot-on from the consumer perspective because, quite frankly, it looks cheap. The hilarious part of the story comes when they post about the Viliv X70, a device that has similar specs.

Maybe we’re just hot for sleek, thin, ultra sexy renders of handheld computing devices, but we dare anyone to call the unit pictured above unsightly (and mean it). Shortly after showcasing its swiveling S7 at CES, Viliv has taken the wraps off of its X70 Atom Communication MID.

Apart from the fact that we highlighted this nearly three weeks ago (our fault for not tipping them!) it seems that they’ve fallen in love with an Origami device. Check the specs at Gadgetmix.

• Atom Silverthorne 1.33GHz processor
• choice of SSD: 8GB/16GB or HDD: 30GB/60GB
• Windows XP or Linux
• 1GB RAM
• optional WiMax module (mobile broadband)
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and WiFi b/g (no ‘n’)
• Weight: 660g
• built-in GPS (Sirf Star 3)
• SDHC slot
• dimension: 210(w) x 117(h) x 22.5(d) mm

Apart from the 22.5mm depth, it’s nothing different.

Mickey-taking aside, it does prove that people are susceptable to a nice design, whatever it is. There’s always been a possibility that a ultra mobile PC or MID would berak through and this article from Engadget underscores that.

Viliv uncovers gorgeous X70 Atom Communication MID – Engadget.

Mobile video and modding extraordinaire Jkk has just published a review of the newest Origami software pack we mentioned yesterday. Head on over to jkkmobile to check it out and see what he thinks. Good news is there are no more hardware checks in place so it will run on any device, no installer file hacking required. 

Its been available pre-loaded on HTC Shifts before, but now its finally out for all ultra mobile PC owners to download. Go get it.

The Origami Experience 2.0 is designed for Ultra-Mobile PCs that run Windows Vista. To run the Origami Experience 2.0, a ultra mobile PC with the following specifications is recommended:  

• Minimum 100 MB of available hard disk space
• Minimum 1 GB of system memory
• Touch panel display (required for Origami Picture Password)

The Origami Experience 2.0 requires the following software installed:  

• Windows Internet Explorer 7. Origami Experience 2.0 requires Internet Explorer 7 for its RSS platform.
• Windows Media Player 11. Origami Central requires Windows Media Player 11 in order to manage and play media.
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. The calendar tile in Origami Now works only with Office Outlook 2007 Calendar. The mail tile in Origami Now works with Office Outlook 2007 Mail and Windows Mail.
• The Windows update available here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932406 . This update is highly recommended if you use the mail tile in Origami Now with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

• Fact: Vista is not the right choice for a Ultra Mobile PCs unless you need handwriting recognition.
• Fact: Linux is not an option for pro-mobile users.
• Fact: Ultra Low Cost PC’s focus on cost and not mobility features.
• Fact: XP is the best choice of operating system for a pro-mobile device.

So when Microsoft prevents OEM’s from shipping a standard build of XP with a ultra mobile PC and then makes an exception for ULCPC’s it kind of stinks. When they then offer discounts to ULCPC OEMs and specifically block-out mobile devices that use touchscreens (every single X86-based mobile device I have tested, except one, had a touchscreen) it gets offensive.

Pro-mobile users don’t number in the millions like ULCPC customers but they do exist. This website is proof of that. Should these customers be forced into a position where they have to buy a Windows Vista Business based device and then run around to try and find drivers so that they can then spend hours doing the upgrade to Windows XP? Should OEMs in the pro-mobile market be forced to design around notebook processors that are capable of running Vista and thus being hit with design limitations and cost issues?

Not at all.

The answer might lie in developments going on inside Microsoft. Windows Mobile for X86 for example. Componentised Vista or even a re-badged Windows XP ‘mobile’ but right now it looks like the Ghz-class touchscreen UMPCs will suffer a big blow. VIA’s 1Ghz C7, the Celeron 900, the Intel A100 and A110, the Geode LX800 and LX900 and most of the new Intel Atom range are processors that give acceptable and in some cases, surprisingly good real-world performance characteristics under XP but are rendered near-useless under standard Vista builds.

2 years ago, Microsoft created the Origami device specification that included exactly these processors and included the very touchscreens that are now being blocked by them from using the best operating system choice that existed. I wonder how Otto Berkes, the father of Origami, feels about that?