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Samsung unveils Origami tablet
But will anyone buy it?

By Ina Fried

Published: Tuesday 02 May 2006

Samsung brought its Origami tablet to the US on Monday, announcing that the device would go on sale at Best Buy's online store next week and will show up in some of the retailer's outlets this summer.

The Q1 mini-tablet, with its 7-inch screen, built-in Bluetooth connectivity and wi-fi wireless capabilities, will sell for $1,099. Optional add-ons include an extended-life battery and a travel case with a built-in keyboard.

Samsung's Q1 device, which was first shown at the CeBit trade show in Germany in March, uses Intel's ultra-low-voltage Celeron, running at 900MHz, has 512MB of memory and runs a version of Windows XP Tablet PC edition that is customised to enable typing via an on-screen "dial" keyboard.

The Q1 will be available on 7 May at Best Buy's online store and will make its way into Best Buy's retail stores later this month. Business retailer CDW is expected to carry the device as well. It will also launch in China, France, Germany and the UK later this month.

Although Intel and Microsoft have been touting a future in which such devices get all-day battery life, Samsung's initial device has a standard battery life rated at up to 3.5 hours.

Monday's launch marks the culmination of a marketing push that generated considerable buzz when Microsoft first started hinting about the Origami devices earlier this year. Origami represents the software maker's code name for the software that powers the mini-tablets. Intel has also been touting the possibilities of such products, which it calls ultra mobile PCs.

Market researcher In-Stat has forecast that shipments of such ultra mobile PCs could reach 7.8 million units by 2011.

Intel, though, sees an even brighter future. In an interview, Intel vice president Gadi Singer said the market opportunity is "absolutely much higher".

Singer said: "We're looking at a market of 100 million units a year," but he did not say when the market would reach that size.

However, analysts have been critical of the first generation of devices, saying they will fall short of the tech giants' long-term goals and are likely to appeal largely to gadget enthusiasts.

In a press conference on Monday, Samsung tried to cast a somewhat wider net.

HS Kim, exective vice president of Samsung Electronics' Computer System Division, said: "Q1 is ready for the typical computer user. The goal is to provide users with the freedom to be mobile while connected to their business and entertainment files that are a crucial part of their lives."

But the first customers of the Q1 are likely to be users with specialised needs, such as medical workers that have been using larger Tablet PCs but found them too bulky or too expensive, said Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies.

Most consumers won't want to spend $1,099 on one of these devices just yet, Bajarin said. If vendors can price a mini-tablet somewhere between $499 and $699, they'll have a better chance of courting regular users, he said.

However, not all analysts were sure that corporations would want a mini-tablet with so many multimedia features. Richard Shim, an analyst with IDC, said: "It's too expensive for a consumer device, but too consumery for a commercial device."

Both Singer and Microsoft corporate vice president Bill Mitchell said there are challenges that need to still be overcome, including cost and battery life barriers.

Singer, however, added that all of the issues are "technically and physically solvable".

Mitchell said the company has already done some work to make Windows run better on a smaller touch-screen device and that it will do more work with Windows Vista. For the first devices, Microsoft added a dial keyboard as well as a more touch-friendly version of Windows Media Player and a version of the popular puzzle game Sudoku.

While the first mini-tablets aren't expected to rapidly take off, the size and features promised by the devices are interesting as prices come down, Creative's Bajarin said. "This is the platform that's closer to [Bill] Gates' vision of mobile computing," he said, comparing the Q1 to the Tablet PC.

David Nichols, director of display marketing for Samsung's information technology division, said: "Since this is the first, we're really just trying to get user feedback."

Ina Fried writes for CNET News.com