In the Winter of 2006, Microsoft unveiled the project that was code named Origami as a specification for Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs), a full blown Windows XP Tablet Edition PC that's smaller than most tablet PCs and larger than most PDAs. I immediately knew these were the machines I've wanted for a long time.

I have used a notebook for many years, but found that they are still a little to bulky to haul around everywhere. And I've held off on getting a PDA because I always hated that they ran slimmed down operating systems and required special OS-specific or even product-specific software. In short

   notebooks = too big
   PDAs = not capable enough

The UMPC spec seemed just right.

When the first generation of UMPCs got released, I held off. I'm a technophile, but not a super, bleeding-edge technophile. I decided to wait until round 2 of devices came out.

For all the winners see here.

Well in July 2006, the Origami team at MS held their second UMPC-related contest. It was a photo contest to demonstrate the power of UMPCs or how they could change your life. I entered the picture to the site for fun...and I won one of the 3 grand prizes of $600. This was when I decided to place my pre-order for the TabletKiosk eo i7210.

It has finally arrived (2006-Sept-11) and I plan to write about how I use it, the problems I encounter and how they get solved. I have no plans to debate the issues that a lot of the mainstream press has with these devices concerning lack of keyboards or battery life, etc.

Stay tuned

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