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Samsung's Q1
CeBIT: Samsung Shows First Origami Device
Portable device features wireless connectivity and an instant-on multimedia
player.
Dan Nystedt, Martyn Williams, and Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
HANOVER, GERMANY -- Samsung Electronics is showing the first device designed
around Microsoft's Origami project at the CeBIT electronics show in Germany. It
is a handheld computer that falls somewhere between a tablet PC and a PDA and
runs a special edition of Windows XP.
The device measures about 6 inches by 8 inches, or half the size of a sheet of
copier paper, and is known officially as an ultramobile device. Samsung's
product, called the Q1, runs on a 900-MHz Intel Celeron microprocessor and has
500MB of RAM.
The Q1 was on display at Samsung's CeBIT booth a day ahead of the show here in
Hanover. It boasts WLAN (wireless local area network), 802.11 A/G, and Bluetooth
connections, and uses touch-screen controls. It runs an instant-on multimedia
player so users don't have to launch the full XP operating system to watch a
video.
Coming Soon?
The device is in the final stages of development and it's not known exactly when
it will be available or at what price. It will be discussed further at CeBIT
press conferences on Thursday by Intel and Microsoft.
Microsoft has been cagey about Origami's details since news of it first leaked
out two weeks ago, when the company posted a Web site with minimal details.
Early reports speculated that Origami might be a new hardware product from
Microsoft, but it turned out Microsoft is providing the software for a device
that will be build by partners like Samsung using Intel processors.
The ultramobile system is hardly a new concept. At Microsoft's WinHEC conference
last April, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates revealed
plans for a lightweight machine in a form factor that falls between a PDA and a
tablet PC. At the time, he said Microsoft and its partners would launch the
product in 2006.
PopCap Games plans to announce several games for the devices at CeBIT on Friday,
including "Bejeweled 2," "Zuma," and "Bookworm." Trial versions of the games
will be preinstalled on Origami devices from several hardware makers, and
customers will be able to buy the full games from Microsoft's MSN Games portal,
according to PopCap.
Pharos Science and Applications will launch GPS (global positioning system)
software for Origami systems at CeBIT, the company said. Pharos already offers
GPS software for Microsoft Windows Mobile devices.
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