An interesting factoid: the
architect of Microsoft's UMPC
(Origami) platform is one Mr. Otto Berkes, whose previous hardware project was... that's right, the Xbox! In
addition to the more public faces of Seamus Blackley and Kevin Bachus, who have both left Microsoft, the original Xbox
crew included Otto Berkes and Ted Hase, both still working in Redmond outside the Xbox group.Xbox-biographer Dean Takahashi has an interesting post on Berkes, calling him "a true devotee of Windows," continuing, "You could say he's a little more of a right-wing Windows hawk than Bill Gates is. Otto really wanted to make the PC more competitive with the other gadgets that are competing with it. So after the Xbox, he set his mind to other projects related to making the PC better."
Does this history hold any hope for UMPC-Xbox 360 interconnectivity? In a video interview with Microsoft's Channel 9, Berkes talks about the Xbox. They joke about the reasons for not making a portable Xbox 360, about wanting the UMPC to be more PC than console, and about how working for the Xbox team is the "coolest thing in the world right now"... and why he left.
