San Jose, Calif. – So you’ve got a cellphone in one pocket, an MP3 player in the other, a laptop in your briefcase and maybe a personal digital assistant somewhere in between.
Is there room for another gadget in your life? Microsoft Corp. apparently thinks so.
Though all those gadgets are becoming more powerful and multifunctional themselves, Microsoft is stepping into the risky business of introducing yet another portable gizmo.
On Thursday, the software company took the wraps off its mysterious Project Origami and, along with its hardware partners, unveiled a new breed of PC – an ultramobile full-fledged computer that weighs about 2 1/2 pounds, is roughly the size of a paperback book and features a 7-inch touch screen.
With prices expected to initially land between $500 and $1,000 and a battery life that so far spans up to three hours, even Microsoft acknowledges that sales will be limited in the beginning.
“We don’t see it as a replacement of BlackBerrys or desktops or mobile PCs as much as the ability to extend what you want to do but is not convenient or available now,” Microsoft spokeswoman Mika Krammer said.
The hope is that with technological improvements over time, the computer, also known as the Ultra-Mobile PC, will eventually cross over from early adopters to mainstream buyers.
The device will be available in April from Samsung Electronics Co. and the Chinese company Founder Group. A version from Taiwan electronics giant AsusTek Computer Inc. is due in June.
Microsoft described three possible users of the device: a busy traveler who may want to leave his or her laptop at home; a family on vacation that may use it to allow the kids to watch a movie and find maps and use built-in GPS tools; and a middle-school student who could use it to read books online and slip it into a backpack.
If the category were to survive the portable battlefield, analysts say it will likely take at least another two years before the product gains market traction.
“I don’t think it’ll flame out, but I don’t think it’ll take off until 2008,” said Samir Bhavnani, analyst at Current Analysis.
The UMPC will have to compete for consumer dollars against the current crop of popular – and less pricey – portables, such as the iPod, PlayStation Portable, and Palm Treo and BlackBerry smart phones.
But the Windows-based UMPC is different and technically more powerful in some ways than those handhelds.
It has a 60-gigabyte hard drive. It runs the Tablet PC edition of Windows XP and will later run the new Windows Vista operating system. It has a microprocessor similar to ones found on regular laptops. It supports wireless Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies, and sports two USB ports.
Essentially, it has the brains and brawn of a computer – only in one of the smallest packages yet.
At the same time, it is too large and heavy to fit in pockets. It lacks a keyboard. And the battery life is barely enough to last a full-length movie.
Analysts predict manufacturers will come out with add-on keyboards or, better yet, smartly integrate one into the design so users can more easily do computing tasks when they want and where they want.
Battery-life improvements are also expected, as companies, including Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.’s Panasonic, are introducing advances there.
A docking station that would link the UMPC to a normal computer setup at home or at the office would also be a smart, helpful addition, analysts say.
And other innovations are sure to emerge.
Already, Pharos Science & Applications Inc., a GPS technology provider, said it will introduce in April a satellite navigational receiver specifically designed to work with this new class of PCs.
“At the end of the day, consumers will decide whether the device will make their lives easier,” Bhavnani said. “If the answer is yes, then they’ll add it to their repertoire.”
The Washington Post and Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this report.
