Microsoft Unveils “Origami”

The mighty Microsoft marketing machine is back in action this week, unveiling the device behind the company’s much-hyped and highly secretive “Origami Project” at a trade show in Germany.

The Ultramobile PC, as it was recently called by Mika Krammer, a marketing director for Microsoft's Windows mobile unit, will be the ultimate in handheld technology. It will run on Windows XP and have a seven and a half inch touch-sensitive screen.

Weighing in at less than two and a half pounds and with a thickness of about an inch, it will be roughly the size of a large pocketbook. Its capabilities are said to be that of a laptop or PC. Later versions will run on the new Windows Vista operating system and it will rely heavily on expanding WIFI technology. Hitting stores sometime this spring, it is sure to be a huge seller.

Or will it? With the 360 fiasco fresh in the minds of the consumer populace and the shelves at the stores still mysteriously lacking the very same self-proclaimed god of all gaming systems, how can we be sure this won’t be more of the same? Bill Gates has laughed at us before, and like jilted lovers we approach anything he does nowadays with extreme caution. We are not without good reason.

It goes without saying that this machine has been and will continue to be severely over-hyped. However, as a society we have the unfortunate habit of expecting too much. When taken away from the overly critical aspect of the market this new device will most likely be a very cool little piece of technology.

You will hear a lot about this newest creation in the next few months. Until spring, however, and John and Jane Doe are allowed to get their hands on these little gems of the future, it will all be pure speculation.

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