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Origami project update : Week 2 revealed

by Steven Williamson on 2 March 2006, 13:13

Tags: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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Origami on the move



Following on from news of Microsoft's mysterious Origami website, there has been plenty of speculation doing the rounds across technology and gaming websites World-wide.

Microsoft have always been excellent at creating hype around their products (ourcolony.net, ilovebees.com and origenxbox360.com immediately spring to mind), the second part of the paper folding mystery has now been revealed.

Week 2's flash animation shows various environments, including a city,a mountain range ,a tube and a car and states that, whatever the device may be, it can be found or used in all of these places.

Back in 2001 National Semi-conductor revealed a concept prototype device called Origami which boasted eight functions:

A digital camera

Video camcorder

Smartphone

MP3 player

PDA

Internet access and Internet picture frame

Email access

Video conferencing



According to this video,that claims to show an advertisement of the portable device, the handheld, which initially looks like a souped up Etch-A-Sketch, will include GPS-based navigation, and potentially all of the above functions.

Some sites have hinted that the device could also include VoIP phoning and Portable Media Center capabilities. Whatever it is, it appears that it will be a more sophisticated version of the original Origami concept.

A Microsoft representative has revealed via his blog that "it would be a fairly low-cost portable device." If the new device contains all of these functions , would it be low cost? and how exactly is this device going to change our lives?

Further details are revealed on the 9th March.

Visit the Origami project website here

Update

Microsoft have commented on the video: "While Origami is a concept we've been working on with partners, the video you have seen is a year old and represents our initial exploration into this form factor, including possible uses and scenarios. However, we are excited to share more details about the evolution of the Origami concept with you in the coming weeks."


HEXUS Forums :: 11 Comments

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definitely a portable device with a small form factor. the insistence in both weeks that you need to touch to start suggests it incorporates touchscreen technology like the DS etc.
wow, i like the idea of having it as a media centre remote to control music all over the house.

Looks very neet but i wonder about battery and gaming capability? It seemed to be playing some kinda halo, hmmmmm
Apparently that game is Halo! :surprised:
Microsoft have now commented on the video footage.

Update

“While Origami is a concept we've been working on with partners, the video you have seen is a year old and represents our initial exploration into this form factor, including possible uses and scenarios. However, we are excited to share more details about the evolution of the Origami concept with you in the coming weeks.”
It will be riddled with DRM.