Digital Home Thoughts: Nokia Wants a Piece of the Netbook Pie

"At first glance, the Booklet 3G looks like your typical netbook with an Intel Atom processor. But the machine has a few tricks up its sleeve. First, it packs an HSPA 3G modem in addition to WiFi and Bluetooth. Nokia claims that it gets up to 12 hours of battery life. And the Booklet 3G also includes an HDMI output and a 10 inch, “HD ready” display."

Nokia has announced their take the the netbook, the Booklet 3G. Most of the specifications seem pretty similar to most other netbooks, with a 10 inch display, WiFi, Bluetooth and Atom CPU. There are some notable boosts like a built in 3G modem, 12 hours of battery life and its claim of an "HD Ready" display. Still, rumours are flying around that they intend on pricing it at $799 without a contract, which definitely sets this netbook apart. Being Nokia, its likely that the great push will come from mobile operators, however, at the rumoured price, I'm not sure why I would favour the Booklet 3G over a different netbook with a 3G USB stick, and the 3G stick would even let me use my 3G data plan on other laptops as needed.