Microsoft Handheld

[fuzzyslug]

I had to hear the story twice and one of those sources had to be Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=24365883) before I believed it. Will MS actually enter the handheld market? I can hardly believe my eyes (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/origamigallery.asp).

[Qmanol]

Looks more like a personal video player or a tablet-palm hybrid that also plays games than a handheld gaming device.

[Post-It]

Those pics are taken from this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV1WGDW37c0&search=project%20origami

[BobJustBob]

When is someone going to release a handheld that will play X-Com for 10 hours on one charge? That's all I ask!

[Charles]

It may be able to play games, but at that size, there's no way in hell that they'll manage to pass it off as an entry in the handheld gaming segment.

[Sarkus]

I don't think there's any question they are going to release a handheld, but whether it's meant to be a game machine is another question altogether.

I could see something like the PSP, but with even less emphasis on games.

[fuzzyslug]

I don't think there's any question they are going to release a handheld, but whether it's meant to be a game machine is another question altogether.

I could see something like the PSP, but with even less emphasis on games.

That's what this looks like. Still, that guy in the video is playing Halo.

[Jason Cross]

That's what this looks like. Still, that guy in the video is playing Halo.

The video going around is one of those "sample videos our marketing firm put together to show off how we make marketing videos and get big clients" things. The stuff you see on the screen isn't real, it's fakey made-up post FX made when the hardware and software weren't even remotely finished. The kid isn't "playing" Halo. He's holding a dummy unit with a blue painted screen and acting like he's playing Halo, and then the marketing firm superimposes Halo over the screen area to show "and it plays games!"

It wouldn't surprise me if this Origami thing turns out to be very similar in design and concept to what was shown in the marketing firm video. This isn't a game machine or "iPod killer." It's a "Tablet PC you can live with because it's smaller and lighter and has better battery life than those Tablet PCs which are exactly like lugging around a 10lb laptop."

[Moggraider]

I smell a bomb.

[nKoan]

My boss has a Sony Vaio that is about that size, and I've played around with it quite a bit. Its actually pretty neat, and if devices like that became more widely available over here, I think I'd pick one up (I think he had to order his from Europe).

Link (http://www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/sony_vaio_U50.htm)

[DanielElliot]

The thing in the video looks cool, but we are shown approximately ten seconds of someone playing a game. I don't think they are trying to compete with the PSP and DS with it (assuming it's real). It looks more like a miniature tablet PC with some cool features to integrate with your real PC.

[Marcus]

It looks more like a miniature tablet PC with some cool features to integrate with your real PC.

Thats pretty much all I would even want.

[Shadarr]

When is someone going to release a handheld that will play X-Com for 10 hours on one charge? That's all I ask!
Did you play Rebelstar?

[bago]

Planting itself squarely between tablets and pocket PCs/phones. Cover all of the market gaps and something is bound to stick, because computing is only going to get more mobile.

[BobJustBob]

Did you play Rebelstar?

No strategic view, no sale.

[Squirrel Killer]

Am I the only one who's completely non-agog? A smaller, better designed tablet PC. Big whoop. The tech geek in me loves it, but I just don't see it with the cool cachet of, say, an iPod or PSP.