Soundbridge Over Troubled Waters...

Just taken receipt this morning of my second Roku Soundbridge. I've been so impressed with the one that I bought a while back that I thought it was time to invest in another. Turns out that it's an updated model with built-in wi-fi (rather than it being an add on with a compact flash adapter) and it has its connections on the back of the unit as opposed to having them under fiddly end caps. Both are definite improvements over the original design (which was almost perfect to start with).

The other nice thing is that Roku are very good at releasing firmware updates to give the Soundbridge new features, which is a great idea. Well designed, genuinely useful, and works seamlessly. All in all, an almost perfect gadget!

Barmy Origami

So then, it's here. Microsoft unveiled its mysterious Origami Project at the CeBit show in Hanover earlier today.

After all the hype (which naturally I've been completely taken in by) I have to say that now it's "out there", it's not actually that exciting. It is, in a nutshell, a tablet PC. It's got a slightly revised version of the Windows XP operating system, with some enhancements known as the "Touch Pack" to make it easier to operate through a touch screen, but other than that, it's just a fairly bog-standard machine. Which is a bit dull really.

Mind you, it might make a nice substitute for a laptop, and it'd be a bit more usable than a Pocket PC. I dare say it'll fill a certain niche.

I'd still rather have an Apple version though. I can just envisage a beautifully designed and made tablet Macintosh. Mmmm, lovely. I hope the rumours of such a machine are true. There are allegedly a number of patent applications submitted by Apple for a touch-screen device. These may just be for some kind of touch-screen video iPod, or maybe (just maybe) for a tablet computer. That really would be something.

Keep us hanging...

Just as I suspected... the Origami Project website has a bit more information, but nothing concrete. Just some more teaser stuff, and a closing comment of "Find out more on 9th March".

So we have to wait at least another week to find out just what this confounded contraption is!

The art of paper folding...

So then, what exactly is Microsoft's Origami Project? There seems to be plenty of speculation about it on the web, but at this point, no-one is entirely certain. It would seem to be some kind of connected handheld computer. There's a piece of video doing the rounds which allegedly shows the Origami. According to Microsoft the video is real, and was comissioned by them, but shows "old hardware" and not actually the Origami itself. There are some still images here if you can't be bothered to watch the video.

There's a date of 2nd March 2006 on the Origami Project site (which is tomorrow!). Whether that means the device will be fully unveiled, or just more teaser information will be released remains to be seen. I'm hoping they're going to tell us exactly what it is, along with specs, prices and release dates, because it looks genuinely intriguing.