Origami UMPCs are a disaster

MICROSOFT'S Origami Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) is looking like the company's biggest flop since Windows ME. Fortunately for Microsoft, it's not paying for this mistake, you are, if you buy one now.

I tried out three of the UMPCs that Taiwan's manufacturers were showing at Computex in Taipei, and talked to some of the people who worked on them and are now trying to sell them.

My impression of each of these mobile tablet PCs was the same: they're a bundle of compromises. They try to fill a lot of different roles, but are second best at all of them. The manufacturers have made a valiant first effort, but Microsoft's UMPC blueprint is not ready to be turned into a viable product.

The devices I looked at were Asustek's R2, ECS's H70, and AMtek's T700. There isn't too much difference between them in terms of features, since they follow Microsoft's baseline UMPC specifications. They all have the following in common: low voltage CPUs running at around 1GHz, 30 to 60GB 1.8-inch hard disk drive, 7-inch 800x480 pixel screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, and at least 256MB of DDR2 memory.

The UMPCs I saw don't have keyboards, but the screen is touch sensitive and there's a stylus, pointing stick, cursor pad, and other control buttons. The Asus and ECS units have 1.3MP cameras, and the Asus R2 has some interesting extra features: GPS and fingerprint recognition. The companies named here are the original manufacturers, but you'll see these devices rebadged in some parts of the world. For example the AMtek T700 is sold as the TabletKiosk EO, and the ECS H70 is sold by Founder under its own brand.

Asus R2: Never try to hold a UMPC this way

What's wrong with the UMPC idea?
On the technical side, UMPCs are crippled by severe problems with both hardware and software. Currently available components simply cannot do what the UMPC demands in terms of weight and battery life. Even worse, most of the software was designed for larger PCs and is totally unsuited to the UMPC's unique features.

From the marketing point of view, the UMPC is an attempt to create a new market. But it is not a empty market. It is occupied at one end by notebook PCs, and at the other by smartphones and PDAs. UMPC users already have experience with these devices, and they naturally try to use the UMPC in the same way.

That's why the UMPC is getting such atrocious reviews from technology publications. Because these reviewers are serious PC users - and if you try to use the handheld UMPC like a PC, you'll soon throw it to the floor in disgust (or you might just drop it when the weight overcomes you).

It's too heavy
I found all the UMPCs are too heavy to be used one handed for more than a few minutes. They weigh around 850g (1.9 pounds). Holding the device in two hands, however, greatly reduces the effectiveness of the touch screen, because you can no longer reach most of it. (If, by the way, you're coming to the UMPC from a smartphone, which can be operated with a single thumb, this will probably drive you crazy).

This dilemma highlights one of the unresolved contradictions that undermines the UMPC concept.

You have the ultimate pointing device here: a touch screen. It's the only input device that lets you simply point at what you want. Until we have USB ports on the back of our heads, things won't get any simpler than this.

So you have the perfect pointing device. But you can't use it. With both hands gripping the edges of the UMPC, your thumbs only reach the bottom corners of the screen. Most of the standard Windows software has controls which are out of your reach.

The obvious exception is the UMPC's DialKeys onscreen keyboard, which puts radial keypads in the bottom corners of the screen - exactly where your thumbs need them. For current UMPCs to be usable as handhelds, a lot more applications should be like DialKeys. Standard user interface components, like horizontal menu bars across the top of the screen, are a major faux pas on the UMPC.

AMtek T700: Battery life problems forced recall
Actually, there is a more comfortable way to hold the UMPC one-handed: turn it 90 degrees so your hand grips the top, and the underside rests on your forearm. You can rotate the Windows desktop 90 degrees too, if that suits you. Strangely, this operating mode seems to have been an afterthought in the UMPC spec. All the UMPCs I've seen have very limited space available on the screen surround to grip them there, and have buttons or controls which you're likely to press accidentally.

Despite these drawbacks, I'm sure some buyers will find ways to use the UMPC. It's a versatile little machine. For example, you can connect a keyboard and mouse, prop it up, and use it like a notebook PC. Though if this is all you need then there's a cheaper alternative that I want to draw your attention to: it's called a notebook PC.

Battery life is too short
The UMPC's number one problem, weight, is inseparably bound up with its number two problem: battery life. You'll get two hours, maybe two and a half. The sales and marketing staff at Computex visibly flinched every time I asked them about battery life. These are people who breathe positive spin, but none of them needed any prompting to begin criticizing this aspect of their own product.

Batteries are heavy, so the UMPC has a tiny one to keep its weight under control. The short running time restricts your freedom to use the device while you move around. And if you can't move around freely, maybe there's no point suffering the UMPC's other limitations.

ECS H70: Even ECS isn't happy with the puny batteries
It's particularly telling, I think, that current UMPC's have shorter battery life than many of the devices above them on the mobile product ladder (notebooks), and also below them (smartphones).

It seems that the energy to weight ratio of battery technology sets an upper limit on the size and power of a practical handheld device. UMPCs are currently above that limit.

Manufacturers say they will boost the battery life in the next generation of UMPCs at the end of this year, perhaps by about 30 minutes. I haven't heard any talk of weight reductions.

The UMPC's final major problem, a high price, is normal for new gadgets. Still it has to be said, $900 to $1300 is a lot to pay for a product which isn't ready for the market.

How to make the UMPC idea succeed
Microsoft has been here before, with ideas like Windows CE, pen computing, and more recently, tablet PCs. Some of those projects have worked out better than others. But they've all required trial and error, much of which has been carried out by the hapless early adopters, and not by Microsoft.

The companies manufacturing UMPCs now are doing it to gain experience. They hope that the concept will take off eventually, and they will then be ahead of the pack.

Two things have to happen to make the Origami UMPC dream succeed. First, Microsoft should actually do what it claims to know best: write good software that meets users' requirements. The current one-size-fits all approach isn't right for UMPCs.

That's tough, but the second step is even tougher. The UMPC really needs a lot of technological progress. Lighter, more efficient batteries would change everything. In the interim, new low-power components, like white LED screen backlights, and flash-based hard drives, will help too.