Just three days before an official announcement it to me made from Microsoft it appears photos of the new Origami Project have been leaked online.

The photos, which have turned up on OrigamiPortal, suggest the unit will be a handheld web tablet suitable for watching movies and accessing the Internet on the go rather than a portable Xbox360 or GPS unit.

The user interface seems to emulate Windows Vista screens currently doing the rounds in the beta versions that are available.

Judging by the buttons and icons on the jet-black unit it the Origami Project, or whatever name it will take, will be hard drive based and feature wireless connectivity, probably to allow users to connect and get content.

We can't unfortunately vouch for the creditability of the images, but if they are true it would appear that from a design point of view the unit is a world apart from the leaked Apple iPod video images we saw earlier today.

We will keep you posted.

>> Microsoft - Official website of Microsoft