Origami unveiled

So the wrapper has been removed and at least one form of the Origami device is now publicly visible. C|Net's Ina Fried has the scoop and pictures which are being linked to by an amazing number of sites. The big deal, in my mind, is that the device runs the Tablet PC Edition of Windows XP which will make it infinitely more useful than any PDA.

Scoble reports that this unit is a different form factor than the one in the Channel 9 video he filmed which will be released later in the week. Initial pricing is reported to be in the "under $1,000" price range with less expensive models (around $500) and all-day battery options due next year or beyond.

So... now you know. Origami fills the void between PDAs and even the smallest of the Tablet PCs, runs the full Windows OS, and should be available shortly for bleeding edge early adopters who just have to be the first ones on their block with every shiny new toy. I'm inclined to wait until Thursday when Microsoft makes their announcement before I start thinking about pulling out the plastic. 

UPDATE (03/08): MacWorld reports that Samsung has announced their first entry in the UMPC space - the Q1. Samsung's Q1 will run on a Celeron processor and will include WiFi and Bluetooth networking. An instant-on media player will allow the device to be used without a full boot into Windows on the device. PopCap Games has announced it will publish versions of some of its best-selling games for the new platform. One of those games, Bejeweled 2, is my all-time favorite time-waster. Trial versions will be bundled on the device. The games vcan be purchased through the MSN Games Portal (soon to be rebranded as Live Games no doubt). Pharos, who already develops GPS software for Windows Mobile devices has announced plans to offer GPS tools for the UMPC.