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Showing posts from February 25, 2006

Secret of Microsoft Origami is out

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A lot of people were wondring what Origami is all about. Seems like the secret is out of the bag... and I'm a little dissapointed. The way it was hyped it was made to look as if this is will be cutting edge, something new, which we haven't thought about yet. But this device is larger than a PDA and has less features than a small laptop. The advertisement didn't answer why someone won't buy a 12inch Powerbook, or a tablet PC. Will someone really walk around with that clunky piece of equipment ? May be they will... but doesn't the success of iPods and the failiure of Mobile CD players define acceptable size of a mobile device which people are willing to carry around ? In my personal opinion, based on what I saw in the short clip, this product could be a direct competition for sony's PSP. Other than that, with the current feature set and its size, it can't replace the laptop, cellphone, camera or the iPod/music player. If there is anything to be blamed fo

Wireless Skype handsets (802.11)

Those of you who never talk to anyone outside this (US) island you live on, chances are that you have never used skype. For others who can't buy unlimited minutes to other parts of the world, thank skype for trying to change the world. But skype world is not perfect yet. You still have to use your computer to make and receive calls. There are some skype-phone gateways available, but most of them are just hacks at best. A few companies have big plans for skype in the near future and here are some interesting details I gathered over the last few weeks. To begin with there are 4 classes of skype devices currently out there. Traditional headphone and microphones devices, using speaker/mic-in connections on the computer Intelligent wired USB devices which can interact with Skype software on the computer and make/receive calls. Some even have a lcd display on the handset. Intelligent USB devices which can do whatever the wired devices can do, but you have the flexibility of moving ar