Mircosoft and other manufacturers have just officially announced a new computer platform called UMPC (Ultra Mobile Personal Computer). From what I've seen these new machines look pretty cool but seem to be a rehash of what we've seen in past.
For more info go to:
[url]www.umpc.com/[/url]
http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/09/technology/microsoft_origami.reut/?cnn=yes
http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/live-at-cebit-intel-press-briefing-origami-is-dead-long-liv/

They'll probally put a TON of copy protection stuff that's annoying to get around, and you'll now have the ability to access BSOD on the road.

Exciting.

Repost from the Facebook. My comments are after the quote:

[quote=Microsoft Student Hub]I would say that the uptake has definitely been slow. Among the many challenges is battery life. The machines have been so power intensive that they've had to drop things like on-board CD/DVD drives (a deal-killer for me). This has gotten better with the current generation and will continue to get better. Cost has been an issue as well--this will get better too with economies of scale. I would say that you will see big movements in Tablets in the next 3-5 years. Lest you forget that laptops went through this same thing early in they're product lifecycle.

WRT Origami, IMOthis is targeted at the Blackberry power-user type--the person who is looking for a more full featured "mobile office". Just speculation on my part but that's what I would say based on what I know and have seen.[/quote]

I agree about battery life. In almost any mobile electronic device, the battery life can be a deal maker or breaker. I don't mind the drop of a CD/DVD drive, but I don't think the market is ready for it yet. The market will be ready when legal music, television, and movie downloads are on par with the sales at brick and mortar stores. Nationwide wireless broadband networks would be an incredible boon to such a device. Has there been any talk with the cell providers to add this device? Or do plans call for just local Wi-Fi support?

The deal breaker I see with tablets is the lack of a keyboard. Sure, laptops went through a low initial acceptance rate initially because they were underpowered and overpriced. However, they are still traditional computers, packed into a smaller box. With Tablet PCs, you are asking the user to learn or create an entire new method of interaction with the machine. I don't mind most of the current revisions that act as laptops and Tablets, but I think pure Tablets will not catch on. The argument is that people want to be able to jot some notes down rather than type them out, but in reality, most business professionals type much faster than they write.

While I understand what you mean when you say this is targeted at users who want a mobile office experience, the comparison to Blackberries is perhaps not the best. With only 1-2 million users and a major payment to NTP, the Blackberry is hardly what I would call a success. One last thing, when you mention "mobile office," I assume this means yet another required MS Office liscense to be able to utilize the machine as it is intended?

Looks like a fairly reasonable replacement for the PocketPC, depending on the price.

If it had directional buttons around the screen it would be even better.

I'd say it looks like a waste of money, or at least it looks like way more than I would ever need/want.

I could definately see it replacing the laptop I take to class. In fact I would love to just carry that thing around.

Saw a demo video of the thing a while ago.

It looks REALLY neat.

I'd rather have something that is a bit bigger and can do everything I'm used to. (Laptop)

I'd rather just be stationary and use my desktop.

like others said, I honestly don't see this being incredibly useful and I'm pretty certain it will be very overpriced but like every piece of shiney new tech that comes out now-a-days it will sell really well.
just 'cause.

I have a hard time taking anythind entirled "Ultra" Seriosly

Looks like a fancier PSP.

It looks like they have em.




These things look pretty sweet. I would hope that other OS are easy to install on them. (legally or not)

If they come with decent hardware and I can load any OS I want, I will be getting one. Looks like the keyboard is pretty decent.

I'm not talking about a thumb keyboard. I hate SMS for that reason. Real keyboards > Blackberry style keyboards.

http://europe.nokia.com/nokia/0,1522,,00.html?orig=/770

And they'll have keyboard attachments (the origami video shows a kid with a keyboard).