Samsung Electronics announced on Thursday that it is planning to put its ultra mobile PC(UMPC) Q1 model, on worldwide sale in May. Samsung's Q1 has a 7-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor and is about half the size of an average laptop PC and lighter. It measures 22.7 centimeters by 13.9 cm by 2.6 cm and weighs 779 grams.

Other specifications are slightly below those of a typical laptop PC. The Q1 is based on an Intel Celeron M processor running at 900MHz. It has 512MB of memory and a 40GB, hard-disk drive. There is a wired and wireless LAN adapter, Bluetooth, and a Compact Flash card slot that could be used for other types of modem.

Samsung's tablet PC is based on the Origami platform developed by Microsoft and Intel and was firstly showcased at this year's CeBIT with the Origami's launch.

The Samsung Q1 will primarly be released in Samsung's home market of South Korea. It will be available from May 1st and will cost 1,199,000 won ($1,264), said Anthony Lee, a Spokesman for Samsung in Seoul. It will also go on sale in May in the U.S., Europe, CIS, and China where prices are yet to be announced, said Lee.

Samsung hopes to sell around 100,000 units of the Q1 in South Korea within its first year on sale and for overseas sales to reach a total of 300,000 units sold over the same period.

Origami machines run a tablet version of the Windows XP operating system and are intended to fit in the market between laptop PCs and PDAs (personal digital assistants).