[H]ere’s what’s already out there…

Cost – around $500, well under Tablet PC $2,000 ranges.
CPU – ULV Pentium M
Avail: Dec 2006 to Jan. 2007
OEMs – Samsung, LGE, Acer, Founder, Averatec and ASUS (to start). Toshiba and Sony already flirted off per past attempts? (But Tosh’s M400 a dream).
Breakthrough Period – mid-2007-2008 timeframes.
Battery Life – around 8 hours.
Connectivity – WiFi, EVDO, HSDPA, GPS
Touchscreen, no Active-Digitizer

Could be a long wait.

Unless something major is going to change, however, it may be months, years, or never before we actually see these devices in the market. Microsoft does not make hardware (XBox and keyboard/mice sets notwithstanding). Intel has been trying to drag computer manufacturers kicking and screaming into making new devices based on their technology, and Microsoft has always had certain product visions that the manufacturers just don’t go anywhere with. Maybe someone in the announcement will cure my pessimism, but Microsoft can have all the hardware goals they want, but if they don’t make the device themselves, they are stuck with whatever the rest of the PC market decides to do.

There’s a lot of promise here, but not much delivery yet. I really, really want to see some specs.