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Microsoft set to roll out 2.0 'Origami' pack for ultra-mobile PCs

At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) last year, Microsoft officials shared their vision for what users might expect from hardware vendors via their next-generation ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs). At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, Microsoft showed its planned advances for some of its own next-gen UMPC technologies via the 2.0 release of the Origami Experience Pack.
Written by Mary Jo Foley, Senior Contributing Editor

At the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) last year, Microsoft officials shared their vision for what users might expect from hardware vendors via their next-generation ultra-mobile PCs (UMPCs). At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, Microsoft showed its planned advances for some of its own next-gen UMPC technologies via the 2.0 release of the Origami Experience Pack.

Microsoft set to roll out 2.0 ‘Origami’ pack for ultra-mobile PCs
Origami was the codename Microsoft used for its UMPC project. UMPCs, by (Microsoft's) definition are "a new class of computer that is optimized for mobility. With a screen size of 7 inches or less." Many use touch, digital ink, styluses and D-pads, among other "non-traditional" input devices. Microsoft doesn't manufacture UMPCs, but it provides the operating system and other base-level software that powers them.

Microsoft is showing off the update, known officially as "Origami Experience 2.0," at CES this week. The new version will go to UMPC makers for testing and pre-installation later in January, according to a posting on the Origami Team blog. The 2.0 update includes four applications:

Origami Central: an update to the original Origami Experience in the 1.0 release, the Central application includes a "fully-optimized browsing experience for UMPCs," plus an RSS reader. Users can get feeds on new movies, audio books or other media via RSS.

Origami Now: a program for one-touch access to e-mail, calendar, RSS feeds, weather, to-do lists. Origami Picture Password: allows users of mobile touch PCs to log in by tapping on a sequence of poinst on a picture. Touch Settings: An update to the touch-settings app that was part of the Origami Experience Pack 1.0 release.

Any UMPC fans out there? What kinds of software do you want to see from Microsoft and others for these devices?

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