The new ultra mobile PC touch-pack looks good.
That’s what its all about isn’t it? The killer app. Or at least a convincing bundle of apps.
Having just seen the Origami Experience video, I finally have enough desire for Vista to make me want to buy it for my UMPC. Unfortunately, as an early adopter, I have to pay for this upgrade but for others that have just bought UMPCs, the Vista upgrade and Experience pack is a real and valuable bonus. For those that are considering a ultra mobile PC for the first time, the Vista solution with Origami Experience pack will be much much more attractive than the XP-based touch-pack solution which many commentators agreed, was a little weak on real features.
It’s not ideal to have to overlay an existing GUI with another GUI, but this software will give all Vista ultra mobile PC users a great way to experience an important facet of the Ultra Mobile PCs capabilities without the trouble of badly touch-optimised software. With WMP11 integration, accessing video or audio content will be easier than ever. Can you imagine how cool it is going to be when we get 5″ Vista-capable UMPC’s with 5 hour battery life. This really isn’t far away. The VIA ‘John’ CoreFusion or Intel Santa Rosa solutions could enable the smaller designs and when combined with better engineering and the LED-backlit screens that are already appearing on new UMPCs, the battery life will rise dramatically. Take the VIA-based Q1B for example. Its been on the market for some months now and its already proven that its capable of VIsta and 3.5 video-watching battery life.
There are still a few question of course. How far can I go with customisation? Is there an API? Can I throw some ‘gadgets’ onto it? Are security issues going to be covered in Windows Updates and are you going to carry on working with this project because there’s a lot more that could be done.
How about working with the Streets and Trips team to produce a navigation plug-in thus providing people with one of the first (and one of the cheapest) out-of-the box Carputer solutions. How about remote controller integration (or will the Xbox controller work already?) and instant messenger, quick mail, weather, and RSS integration. Text to voice technology? Bluetooth phone control? Remote control support? I’m sure these are ideas that are still on the whiteboard under ‘prio 2’ in the Origami team office but I really hope the team gets the feedback and support it deserves for this product and that MS put a bit more resource into getting those items off the board and into the next version.
For me, this is the app that’s broken the camels wallet. Well done to the Origami team.
Steve.
