• WSJ (paid subscription required), Friday, March 10, 2006 11:47 AM

Small, fully functioning personal computers that are about the size of a large paperback book will soon be marketed by three electronics companies. The PCs are based on new designs from Microsoft and Intel and will be primarily used for storing music and videos and wirelessly tapping into the Web. The new devices, based on Microsoft's Origami design, will be marketed by South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., Taiwan's Asustek Computer Inc. and China's second-largest PC-maker, Founder Group. The companies are formally calling the products Ultra-Mobile Personal Computers, or UMPCs. The Samsung and Asustek devices are expected to be in stores by April, and the Founder device in June, executives said. Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., said the units are expected to retail for $599 to $999. Joe Wilcox, an analyst at JupiterResearch, said the devices should be priced below $500 to catch on. "When you open something new, there's always some risk involved," he said. "It's just an issue of making the hardware better and selling it for less money."

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