Windows Experience Blog : UMPC

Origami Experience 2.0 Released

Brandon LeBlanc — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:26:00 GMT

The Origami Experience 2.0 has been released for download on the Microsoft Download Center today!

The Origami Experience 2.0 is designed for Ultra-Mobile PCs that run Windows Vista. To run the Origami Experience 2.0, a UMPC with the following specifications is recommended:

Minimum 100 MB of available hard disk space
Minimum 1 GB of system memory
Touch panel display (required for Origami Picture Password)

The Origami Experience 2.0 requires the following software installed:

Windows Internet Explorer 7. Origami Experience 2.0 requires Internet Explorer 7 for its RSS platform.
Windows Media Player 11. Origami Central requires Windows Media Player 11 in order to manage and play media.
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. The calendar tile in Origami Now works only with Office Outlook 2007 Calendar. The mail tile in Origami Now works with Office Outlook 2007 Mail and Windows Mail.
The Windows update available here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932406 . This update is highly recommended if you use the mail tile in Origami Now with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007.

I've been taking a closer look at the Origami Experience 2.0 software here on the Windows Experience Blog with a 4-part series of in-depth posts. You can check out Part 1 of the series here where I dive into the enhanced web browsing capabilities of Origami Experience 2.0 including new touch abilities for UMPCs that have Touch Panel Displays. And here in Part 2 I take a look at the new built in RSS feed-reading features. Coming soon - Part 3 will look at the Media features and Part 4 will take a look at Origami Now.

Origami Experience 2.0 Part 2: RSS

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 21 May 2008 03:03:00 GMT

Two weeks ago, I talked about the new Web Browsing capabilities in Origami Central, one of the three apps in the Origami Experience 2.0 software. That was Part 1 of a 4-part series showcasing the new features of the Origami Experience 2.0 software for Ultra Mobile PCs. Here in Part 2, I am going to talk about the new RSS features also in Origami Central.

In browsing the web in Origami Central on my UMPC, I can quickly subscribe to a RSS feed on any website.

Origami Central uses the Windows RSS Platform and the Common Feed List from IE7 for its RSS feeds. Feeds I subscribe to in Origami Central or in IE7 will appear in the Common Feed List. What this means essentially is that Origami Central and IE7 share the same RSS feeds.

When accessing my subscribed feeds in Origami Central, I'm brought into the All Feeds screen. The UI uses large graphic icons making it better to use the touch features when navigating between feeds and folders with feeds inside them. The black icons are folders with feeds inside them and the white icons are individual feeds. Origami Central comes pre-populated with feeds in the Origami Experience folder. I also get a toolbar similar to the one in the browsing experience except the title bar for the RSS experience does not auto-hide. On the toolbar I get a circular-arrow-type icon I can click on that will refresh my feeds.

When I browse to a specific feed, I am presented with the unread posts within that feed in a UI other than a simple list. Instead of a simple list of unread posts - I'm presented with "squares" for each post. The toolbar at the top lets me know how many unread posts I have for the specific feed. And on the top right-hand side I have a button to mark all as read if needed.

When I read an unread post - the post then becomes grayed out showing me it's been read.

For a specific post - I can read it right in the RSS experience of Origami Central or browse to the post in the browsing experience in Origami Central. But I never have to leave the Origami Central application.

For audio and video podcasts subscribed to - the RSS experience in Origami Central will play both audio and video directly within the Origami Experience software making for a great experience with podcasts. Here I am looking at NBC Nightly News which is a video podcast:

When I am reading feeds - I can flag a specific post I want to read later on.

I then went back to the All Feeds page (via the link in top toolbar) where there is a folder for any post in a RSS feed that I've flagged. Here you can see my flagged posts:

With Origami Central - I get all the great basic RSS feed reading features as well as the ability to view audio and video podcasts and being able to flag posts. But I never have to leave Origami Central application. RSS feed reading is another new aspect of the Origami Experience 2.0 software.

Stay tuned for Part 3 where I look at the Media capabilities of Origami Central.

Taking a Closer Look at the Origami Experience 2.0

Brandon LeBlanc — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 05:07:00 GMT

In the next couple weeks, I'll be doing a 4 part series on the Origami Experience 2.0 which was announced at CES this year. The Origami Experience software is a "pack" of applications designed specifically for the Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) running Windows Vista.

The Origami Experience 2.0 software comes with 3 applications that do specific tasks on the UMPC. I'll give a quick overview of these applications in which I'll go into greater detail in my 4 part series of posts about the Origami Experience 2.0.

Origami Central:

Origami Central provides quick access to your Media Library on your UMPC. That means your music, photos and videos. Origami Central lets you play your music, watch your videos and watch photo slideshows. On top of letting you access your media, it also gives you quick access to favorite programs on your UMPC like Microsoft Office OneNote 2007. In the Origami Experience 2.0 - Origami Central comes with a brand new browsing experience. You can now browse the web using Origami Central is full-fidelity web browsing - 100% compatible with IE7. That means you can browse sites that use Flash and other ActiveX controls. It also comes with a RSS feed reader also new to this release.

Origami Now:

Origami Now is a brand new application for the UMPC with the release of Origami Experience 2.0. It is designed to bring you information useful to you very quickly without much interaction. It does this by giving you the ability to customize "tiles". You can navigate between these tiles and their information. What kind of information can be in the tiles? You can configure tiles for weather, email, RSS and more.

Origami Picture Password:
You can use Origami Picture Password to login to your UMPC.

I'm using the Samsung Q1 Ultra UMPC to run the Origami Experience 2.0 on (exact model number and specs here). It works wonderfully for me.

So I've broken up my 4 part series on the Origami Experience 2.0 software into the following parts:

Origami Experience2.0 Part 1: Web Browsing
Origami Experience 2.0 Part 2: RSS
Origami Experience 2.0 Part 3: Media
Origami Experience 2.0 Part 4: Origami Now

Expect part 1 soon!

WinHEC 2007: Day 1

Brandon LeBlanc — Wed, 16 May 2007 08:16:00 GMT

Today I saw some really cool stuff at WinHEC 2007. WinHEC truly "advances the platform" this year with the platform being Windows Vista and Windows Server. A lot of the announcements that have been made today are about hardware pushing the experience in Windows Vista and Windows Server to the next level. And that is why this year's WinHEC is really exciting.

During this morning's keynote - there are a few key announcements worth highlighting. Software and Hardware Partners have been announced for Windows Home Server. Outside the HP MediaSmart Server coming out later this year, companies like Gateway and LaCie have announced plans for Windows Home Server powered devices. This is really cool as these devices will give you the best Windows Home Server experiences. The final name for Windows Server "Longhorn" has been announced today as Windows Server 2008 which Nick has covered here. And Windows home computing gets even better with Windows Rally. I am talking about this one in a later post as this announcement really excites me and deserves a separate post ;-)

It is always great to see Bill Gates speak. I was particularly fond of his overview of mobile devices that are coming down the pipe-line. I have found the UMPC to be really interesting especially with the Origami Experience running with Windows Vista. I'm trying to get my hands on one of the new Samsung Q1 Ultra to play with.

Coming to WinHEC isn't just about watching keynotes or attending sessions. It is also about interacting with your peers in the community. You get to discuss with them the announcements from the keynote as well as the hardware innovation coming out of the show. It provides a huge amount of value, in my opinion, to attending shows like this. I was fortunate enough to have some really interesting discussions with several of Microsoft's Featured Community members:

Steve Sinchak - TweakVista.com
Larry Richman - PROnetworks
John Obeto - SmallBizVista.com
Steven Bink - Bink.nu

I also had a chance to meet Rafael Rivera who you might know from Extended64.com.

Later in the evening, the Windows Server Division invited community influencers (such as the Featured Communities) and Press for a Baseball game at Dodger Stadium. It was a fantastic way to finish off the day and discuss today's announcements and sessions. Special thanks to the Windows Server folks for putting the event on for us.

Overall, it is really exciting to see all this new hardware innovation coming in to take advantage technologies in Windows Vista and Windows Server.

Tomorrow I plan to hit the Expo Hall and a few sessions during the afternoon.