vnunet.com analysis: Origami/UMPC has to meet high expectations

"The trick is getting it right, because consumers have never had something quite like this before," said Enderle.

"They have an ideal of what the device should be, but it is a little different for everybody. And it has to have a lot of customisation associated with it. If successful, this will be the first device that offers mass market customisation."

Richard Shim, a research analyst at IDC, agreed that personalisation is the key to the UMPC's potential.

These features would allow the ease of use needed to unlock the broad consumer market which so far has shunned high tech gadgets because of their complexity.

"It opens up the mainstream market," Shim told vnunet.com. "This would be for folks that are not the first to adopt new technologies but could see the benefits of this one." 

In fact, the UMPC is not for gadget fans who own multiple computers and laptops and have built home networks.

While the first-generation devices unveiled this week resemble laptop computers, Shim expects them over time to evolve into something similar to a higher end mobile phone.

Gartner's Fiering typified the device as "my stuff anywhere" and claimed that the services will be more important then the actual hardware.

"If this is a hardware play, it is going to die," he said. "If it is a device that allows me to take my email or video or photos or music with me, then there is a chance that it will work."

• Silicon Valley Sleuth: From WinHEC to Origami: a short history of the handtop computer