Is Microsoft Corp. planning to announce details of a new portable device code-named Origami later this week? That is the question raised by a Web site called Origami Project.

A federal program that funds "high-risk" technologies is at high risk of going out of business if Congress approves U.S. President George Bush's proposed federal budget for next year. Since it started awarding grants in 1990, the Advance Technology Program (ATP) has distributed some US$2.2 billion in funding to projects focusing on a range of subjects, including information technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology and advanced materials.