It feels like it’s been an awfully long time coming, but HTC’s Shift is finally getting an official release; the HSDPA, GPS and WiFi blessed device – which runs Windows Vista – is available as of today in Spain (on the Telefonica network) and in the UK (on the Orange network), and soon in Italy (on the TIM network), before further European releases; it’ll be priced at a whopping €1,199 ($1,737).  The Shift also is among the first devices to feature Origami 2 by Microsoft, the company’s latest software for mobile touchscreen devices.

Origami 2 adds a finger-friendly browser, RSS reader and media player to the Shift, making it more feasible to leave the stylus in its silo and navigate with a fingertip.  It also includes Origami Now, a homescreen app with one-touch access to email, calendar events, to-do lists and weather reports.

HTC have gone one further and added SnapVUE, a quick-boot micro-OS that gives instant access to emails, calendar, SMS and contacts without having to boot up Vista.  Together with the power saving tweaks HTC have made, they estimate the Shift will manage up to three days of battery life.

You can check out the full specs for the HTC Shift here.