| Microsoft Origami project exposed |
Feb. 26, 2006
 [Updated Mar. 5th] -- Rumors have been flying around the web regarding a new Microsoft gadget codenamed "Origami." Based on a leaked video, the device appears to be a handheld multi-function wireless tablet, somewhat larger than the recently introduced Linux-based Nokia 770 Internet tablet.
News flash
Further information on Origami has surfaced -- read the latest update here:
Origami fever spreads
Recent Origami speculation included the idea that it may have evolved from the multi-function Origami concept prototype unveiled by National Semiconductor in 2001. Other rumors have suggested that Origami would be a successor to the small wireless mini-tablet showcased by Bill Gates in his keynote talk at WinHEC last spring, or that it might even be some sort of "iPOD-and-Blackberry killer" rolled into one.
Thanks to an Engadget reader's sleuth work (see comments area), a flash presentation was discovered on the website of DigitalKitchen, the marketing firm that is reportedly producing flash videos for Microsoft's Origami Project website.
Origami exposed
The presentation, which subsequently disappeared from DigitalKitchen's website, depicts a small wireless Web pad that integrates a potpourri of mobile device functions, including note taking, sketching, instant messaging, GPS-based navigation, and more. There are also hints that the device may offer VoIP phoning and Portable Media Center capabilities, as well. The latter is suggested by a frame that shows multimedia content for an Origami device being managed by a Windows Media Center PC.
(Note, though, that articles published on March 27th by both the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the New York Times stated that Microsoft has acknowledged the DigitalKitchen video, but says the presentation actually represents a one-year-old concept exploration, rather than the current state of the project.)
Here are some frames grabbed from the Microsoft Origami presentation on DigitalKitchen's website:
       
Several views of the Origami, from DigitalKitchen's presentation
Depending on the device's embedded software stack and the amount of CPU and memory resources, the Origami device could also provide PIM (personal information managment) and Office document reading and writing capabilities. However, such functions were not demonstrated in the DigitalKitchen video.
Although it would seem desirable from a cost and power consumption perspective for the device to be based on either a customized version of Windows CE or a variant of the Windows Mobile Pocket PC OS -- and low power processors such as Intel's XScale PXA27x Bulverde -- Microsoft today confirmed to WindowsForDevices.com that Origami is based on "some form of Windows XP." This, in turn, means it will run an x86-type (aka "Intel architecture") processor.
Additionally, Microsoft's Origami Project website home page contains the hidden text, "Origami Project: the Mobile PC running Windows XP."
Based on this choice of OS, the device's functions are likely to be more like those of a Windows XP Tablet Edition device, possibly combined with other capabilities such as those of Windows XP Media Center Edition, rather than like those of a Windows Mobile Pocket PC.
The use of a full-up Windows OS, rather than Windows CE or Windows Mobile, also implies a higher price point -- based on increased processor, SDRAM, and flash storage costs, as well as substantially higher Windows license fees -- plus heavier and more expensive batteries. The latter can also be expected to burden the device's size and weight. Most likely, the device will incorporate a low-power, high-integration x86 processor such as AMD's "Geode" or Via's "CoreFusion".
Origami's origins?
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Origami may indeed have been inspired by the five-year old National Semiconductor Origami concept prototype (shown at left), as its name suggests.
However, from a form-factor perspective, it bears a much greater similarity to the mini tablet demonstrated by Bill Gates in his WinHec keynote last April (shown at right). At the time, Gates said that the always-connected, "ultra-mobile" mini tablet would sport a 7-inch-wide screen and would offer multiple modes of natural interaction -- features that are consistent with DigitalKitchen's Origami video. Gates also said that the mini tablet devices could be expected to reach market in the 2007 timeframe.
  Interestingly, several companies have already introduced Windows XP-based handheld mini-tablet PCs over the past several years, including OQO (left) and DualCor Technologies (right).
Nokia's wireless webpad
 Nokia, meanwhile, recently began shipping a handheld wireless Web tablet that runs a full Linux OS. The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, which has a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 pixel touch-screen, is smaller than both the device demoed at WinHec by Gates and the one (or ones?) shown in the DigitalKitchen video.
The $360 Nokia device boasts built-in WiFi, Bluetooth, and an RS-MMC (reduced-size-MMC) memory card slot, and its bundled software suite initially includes a web browser, email client, Internet radio player, news reader, media players, image viewer, file manager, search, calculator, world clock, PDF-viewer, notes, sketch, and games. Nokia says that VoIP capabilities will be added in a software update expected this spring.
Compared to the Origami, the 770 offers smaller size, lighter weight, and, most likely, longer battery life. But these advantages come at a cost: constrained processor and memory resources -- a 200 MHz TI OMAP processor, 64 MB of SDRAM, and 128MB of flash (expandable via RS-MMC) -- and a limited set of available application software (for now, at least).
On the other hand, by the time Origami comes to market sometime next year (or later), the Nokia Internet Tablet can be expected to have evolved, both in terms of computing resources and available applications.
Our prediction...
OK, so here's our current prediction, based on a compilation of what we consider to be the best rumors combined with our own conjectures: - Mini tablet form-factor
- 7-inch TFT LCD touchscreen
- 1GHz Via CoreFusion or AMD Geode x86-compatible processor
- 1GB SDRAM system memory
- Built-in 1GB flash storage
- Built-in 802.11b WiFi and Bluetooth
- Built-in GPS receiver
- SDIO/MMC expansion slot for flash and other expansion
- Operating system -- a Windows XP-based OS, probably enhanced by:
- Media Center Edition extensions
- Tablet PC Edition extensions (e.g. handwriting recognition)
- VoIP support
- GPS support
- Price -- around $750 likely, but we think it needs to come in at $499 or less, to be successful
Official unveiling now expected March 9
The latest teaser video on Microsoft's OrigamiProject website indicates that we can expect to find out what Origami really is on March 9, 2006.
See you then!
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