The old software was cool-looking, centralized, and had a lot of big buttons, while this one is bold, filled with extra information widgets, and lots of coolness, enough to make me jealous of UMPC owners. While the old stuff was about usability, the new goodness is about the centralized dashboard and great-looking touch computing.

Read more at the Origami Project’s blog.

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Based on what we see in the video, Microsoft has done a great job with version 2 of the UMPC, with a cool looking, versatile, feature-rich and simple application, making it a hell of a lot easier to do stuff on a UMPC.

In fact, the interface should remind you of something you’d expect from another company, one known for its cool Mac OS and iPhone interfaces.

Microsoft is doing a lot of the same things Apple is doing with the iPhone, including the idea that everything should work without a stylus, just a tap of the finger.

If someone can release a UMPC for the same price as the iPhone, coupled with this amazing new interface, I won’t be crushing on that iPhone any more.

As usual, my biggest problem will be looking at the UMPC. Last year, I wanted, badly, to see what the UMPC experience was like.

Naturally, I couldn’t find one anywhere, making the purchasing decision a hell of a lot harder than necessary.

In fact, the first UMPC I found in the wild was in a duty-free shop in London.

Worse, I have yet to find a standard Tablet PC in a single store that I could demo; all the display units in New York are apparently cracked and have their stylus stolen.

Microsoft needs to open a store, in order that people can see their products as they were meant to.

The fact that I’ve had such a hard time is a travesty, and has got to be hurting Microsoft in the fight against Apple.

Who do I have to bribe to demo a frickin’ Tablet?

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Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.

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The idea behind this venture backed by Microsoft was to create a computing experience that anyone could carry around with them and access at any time. Weighing in at just around 2 lbs. and with a seven inch screen it was going to make life a bit more portable.

The idea is simple, create a hardware device that can run a regular install of Windows XP Tablet PC edition, and market it to the masses. The Ultra Mobile PC tries to hit that target.

Initially there were a couple drawbacks to the devices:

Low Battery Life – When the UMPC was first launched there were some complaints by the early adopters. Most notably was the amount of time available on the battery during a charge. The Q1 ran for close to three hours, and another offering by TabletKiosk; the UMPC named eo, had some problems with the device that would quickly drain the battery. Fortunately, both companies have addressed these issues by providing longer life batteries that provide around 5 hours or more on a charge. By using power management techniques within Windows XP you can probably get a day’s use from the device without having to run for the outlet. With new technologies on the horizon like flash based memory and better power conservation on the CPUs, we should see battery life to continue to lengthen in 2007.

High Cost – Cost of the UMPC was pretty high at the initial launch, many models were released with a retail price of around $1,200 or more. Some models range higher depending on the features of the device. 2007 should bring lower prices as memory costs continue to dip as well as efficiencies in manufacturing costs. Once costs come down the market should see a heavy turn in purchasing of the UMPC, for example; online retailer woot.com recently posted the Samsung Q1 at a price of $750 twice within the same month, on both of these sales the Q1 was quickly purchased and they sold out in very little time. This low price provided by woot.com clearly demonstrates that the UMPC still needs to come down to meet its price point, at that time the UMPC should see a major boost in sales by consumers.

Confusion in the Marketplace – After the UMPC was launched there was confusion over what the device actually was. Was it a Tablet PC, or was it a laptop? Many of the initial reviews were poor due to issues like the device lacking a keyboard or DVD drive. For most of the early adopters who purchased the device however, they really didn’t see a problem with these issues. The UMPC is meant to be a mobile device, something carried in a backpack or cargo pocket, not something to do heavy computing in a work environment. Even so, Samsung responded by including a USB keyboard into the package with every purchase.

Several manufacturers provide versions of the UMPC. Most notably is the Samsung Q1 which had a better marketing strategy than other competitors in the segment in 2006. Samsung worked with partners like Best Buy as well as using their PR and communications departments to bring the Q1 into the consumers mind.

Another boost for marketing and building awareness of the UMPC was the support Microsoft placed behind it. Microsoft opened up an online community (http://www.origamiproject.com) to foster and support the growth of the early adopters as well as build a support resource for owners of the UMPC.

Where do we see the UMPC going for 2007. We can only expect it to gain in popularity as a platform. Microsoft employee and member of the UMPC team Dustin Hubbard recently posted on the OrigamiProject.com community site that:

“But alas, all will be explained on January 8th. All I can say is to expect an all new experience. It’s the best product work my team has ever done!”

Which is the date of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. 2007 should bring new features as well as improvements over the existing models as far as battery life and cost. We’re looking forward to the future of the UMPC and what 2007 brings.

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Patrick Santry of Santry Technology Solutions, and owner of the popular gadget site: RedmondGadgets.com has kept an eye on the technologies coming out of Redmond for the past 12 years. Patrick is a frequent presenter and author on Microsoft technologies.

Cell Phones now do more than just make calls, small hand held devices called PDA’s enable you to stay connected with work whilst on the road.

Need to check an email or maybe a spreadsheet? No problem.

So now meet a new class of mobile device with the portability of a PDA but the functionality of a laptop.

Meet the UMPC or Ultra Mobile PC as it is otherwise known.

Originally called “Project Origami” by Microsoft the first devices started to ship from Hardware manufactures, like Samsung and Sony, in May 2006.

You can view the original Microsoft television “teaser” here.

Let’s take the Samsung Q1 as an example.

It weighs around 780g and runs a 900MHz ULV Celeron M Processor with 512Mb RAM. It has a standard 7 inch 800 x 480 screen, which is bigger than the popular Sony Playstation Portable, and is powered by a more than reasonable Intel i915 GMS graphic chipset.

Now onto the important topic of connectivity. Wireless connectivity is provided by 802.11g and Bluetooth, whilst fixed connectivity is in the form of 2 x USB 2.0 ports, LAN port, Compact Flash II slot and a VGA-out.

The built-in stereo speakers work well and the 40GB hard drive provides ample space whilst away from home or the office.

All this hardware is useless without an operating system and that is where the Windows XP Tablet edition 2005 comes in. But it does not stop there…

The key element of the UMPC is the Touch Pack. This sits on top of the operating system and allows the UMPC screen to be used as a touch style screen as there is no keyboard (although one can be purchased and plugged in if required.)

If you are familiar with using a PDA you will be used to using handwriting recognition technology and this is available in the UMPC. However, the touch pack interface allows for a new feature. Called the Dial key it is software especially written for the UMPC that allows you to use your thumbs on a touch screen keyboard that displays in the corner of this handheld device.

Overall the UMPC is a great concept and hopefully just as useful in reality.

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Marc Liron is a Digital Media Evangelist living in the UK. He also holds the Microsoft MVP status and maintains a number of technology related websites. More at http://www.marcliron.com

There are four variants. The base specs:

• VIA C7M NaNo 1.0GHz processor
• 7-inch touchscreen (native resolution: 800480; supports also 800600 and 1024768)
• Joystick cursor
• Wireless: Wi-fi (b/g) and Bluetooth 2.0

The four versions:

• 256 MB RAM, 30 GB Hard drive, in black, for $899
• 256 MB RAM, 30 GB Hard drive, in white, for $899
• 512 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard drive, in black, for $999
• 512 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard drive, in white, for $999

I wonder if there will be even a single launch unit near the $500-600 price Microsoft initially announced?

(via jkOnTheRun)

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Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.

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The Smart Caddie UMPC comes from Japanese firm PBJ, and is powered by a one gigahertz Via C7M processor. The rest of its features are similar to those of the other UMPCs (BlueTooth, Wifi), although there are two things that are disheartening:

• Two and half hour battery life (compared to four hours for the Samsung)
• $1190 price (ouch!)

As you can see in the picture at Gizmodo, the Smart Caddie, while whitish, is the same one from the leaked photos and Microsoft emulator program. Which means it has the same looks we didn’t like in the first place.

Some other details from PBJ’s website (PDF, in Japanese, help!):

• Runs Windows XP Tablet
• Via VN800 S3 Graphics Unichrome Pro IGP
• 800480 TFT
• Dimension: 228146×25.1 mm
• Weight: 860 grams

There are also more details on the Founder MiniNote UMPC at paperbackpc.com:

• Intel ULV Celeron 900MHz or Intel ULV Pentium 1GHz
• Operating system Pre-installed legal copy Microsoft WindowsXP family version
• Chip group Intel 915 GMS chip group
• Memory 256MB/512MB DDRII memory
• Display monitor 7 “W
• Hard disk 30G
• I/O port 1 power source connection
• 1 microphone jack
• 1 telephone jack
• 2 USB 2.0 connections
• Port duplication connection
• Wireless accesses the net In sets at the blue tooth module and the 802.11b/g non- wire card, may through clear the GPRS function the blue tooth handset or the wireless local area network realizes the Internet visit
• Keyboard Folds
• 1.3 million picture elements
• Battery 3 cores intelligences lithium ion battery
• Bestows Joylink software
• Size 225.5mm x 144mm x 23/25mm (8.85″x5.66″x0.9″)
• Weight Approximately 830g

(via Gizmodo)

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Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.

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As with most Microsoft products, the short, easy-to-remember project name, in this case Origami, has yielded to the inscrutable ways of Microsoft’s product naming schemes. Thus, the Origami has an official name now of Ultra-Mobile PC, or UMPC, which sounds more like a college cheer than a well-hyped piece of hardware.

(Speaking of college cheers, did you know Dick Vitale’s favorite cheer is the one for Austin Peay? “Let’s Go Peay, Let’s Go Peay!” Yes, it’s college basketball’s big time of year.)

The Trusted Reviews website listed the must-haves vendors need to include with the UMPCs they produce:

There probably won’t be too much surprise at the operating system requirement. Once more of these devices enter the market, we expect to see the headline “Linux Installed On UMPC” all over Digg and Slashdot shortly thereafter.

The article also listed other items on Microsoft’s wish list for the UMPC platform:

Samsung debuted its version of the UMPC first, at the CeBIT show in Germany; the Smasung model includes WiFi and Bluetooth support. Asus and Founder, both located in Asia, will produce versions of this super-lightweight tablet computer.

Tablet computing has found acceptance in some vertical markets, like health care and finance. The consumer market has been mostly lukewarm to their prospects, and Microsoft would like to change that perception. More tablet users means more tablet OS revenue for the company.

They will have to overcome skepticism in the industry. FoxNews cited one analyst who thinks the UMPC needs some time to gain traction in the market:

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.