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Article Type:: Analysis

Origami unfolds

Article Date: May 10 2006 Elliott Davis

Microsoft’s latest attempt to wrestle back the mantle of lead Silicon Valley innovator from Apple continues to gather pace, thanks to the eagerly awaited unveiling of its first ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC).

First hinted at by Bill Gates early last year, Microsoft and partners have spent the past 12 months developing project ‘Origami’, with recent weeks witnessing the first working version dominating the headlines at the renowned CeBIT technology fair in Hanover.

Running a tablet edition of Windows XP, Microsoft’s UMPCs are intended to not only act as a multimedia player (like Apple’s iPod) but to also serve as small, lightweight and relatively cheap mobile PCs. ‘We believe that UMPCs will eventually become as indispensable and ubiquitous as mobile phones are today,’ predicts Microsoft spokesman Bill Mitchell.

Although a variety of manufacturers are working alongside Microsoft to produce the first generation of UMPCs, it was Samsung’s version, the Q1 device, that was unveiled at CeBIT.

Boasting a 40GB hard drive, seven-inch touch-screen and an Intel Celeron processor, the Q1 is expected to go on sale in the US in the coming weeks. A European launch of this and other similar devices is then likely to follow during the summer.

Those desperate to get their hands on a UMPC right now, however, should note that the price of such devices (Q1s are expected to go on sale for around £700) is likely to be well above Microsoft’s original target of £350.

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