Вот так вот всегда бывает – только собрался себе купить что-то из гаджетов на платформе UMPC ("Origami"), как Microsoft говорит о планируемом расширении возможностей платформы и снижение цен на эти устройства с 1000 до 500 долларов, а также – о возможной более тесной совместимости платформы с будущей Windows Vista. Все это добро будет доступно на рынке к концу 2006 года и в куда более широком спектре продуктов, нежели существующий сейчас на рынке Samsung Q1.

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"You’ll see an additional wave of UMPCs available in the holiday timeframe," said Mika Kramer, head of Microsoft’s new Windows Client Mobility Marketing Team, a group within its Windows Client Product Marketing Group in Redmond, Wash. "We are seeing a lot more Tier 1 players get a lot more interested in releasing the UMPC."

Microsoft has been working with some of those partners to help lower prices and deliver machines in different shapes, styles and colors.

There’s room for designs that target women or teenagers, while others might aim for a business-oriented crowd, according to the software maker.

 

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows Vista operating system, scheduled for January 2007, will also offer more functionality for UMPCs, and Microsoft will continue updating its Touch Pack or UMPC-specific application bundle, she said.

"You’ll definitely see form factors change in the Q4 [2006], Q1 [2007] timeframe. You’re going to see integration of different IDs [industrial designs]…and incorporation of keyboards in some machines," Kramer said.

"I think it’ll be characterized by new entrants in the market. You’ll see incremental improvements as time goes by."

 

Microsoft Preps Ultramobile PC for Second Chance