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So, this is what we have been hearing about ever since the dawn of 2009. The first news of Nokia's netbook aspirations was reported back in February when non other than the Nokia CEO had admitted that it is "interested" in making netbook like computers. Almost seven months down the lane, the culmination of it is what is known as the Nokia Booklet 3G, Nokia's very own netbook! But wait! Nokia seems to be very careful not to use the "netbook" slang for its latest baby and it has reasons.
The announcement of the Booklet 3G can well be termed a considerable "shift" in Nokia's line of business - maybe the biggest ever since the manufacturer of paper and rubber goods decided to concentrate on the telecommunications sector. Additionally, this might just be the first time a mobile phone manufacturer has tried to "swim against the tide" and venture into a PC making domain.
Let's now delve in to what the Booklet 3G is all about. Is it just another netbook or does Nokia have something special for us here? First off, it will run Windows. As of now, we are quite unsure if it would be anything other than XP because this is a netbook after all - never mind the branding. Inside, it has an Intel Atom processor and is comparable to the current crop of netbooks with its 10.1-inch display. It has a pretty good battery life we hear. 12 hours! Now, we'd really love to see how true this is in real world conditions (as in when you really use the system). It's an HD display (1366 x 768 pixels) and comes with a HDMI port as well - and tipping the scales at 1.25kgs, this one should be a breeze to carry around. The all-aluminum body (which is just 2 cms thin) makes us smell a MacBook inspired design but yeah, that's OK. Nothing wrong in drawing inspiration.
Now, for the part where this one will leverage Nokia's telecom expertise. Did someone say this was NOT a netbook? Yeah Nokia did. Here's why. Unlike other notebooks, this one is a 3G/HSPA ready mobile broadband optimized beast of an Internet device promising anywhere-access on the move. It comes with an onboard GPS chip and Ovi Maps is preinstalled (this sounds like a phone description!). Oh and you can make calls with it, thanks to its SIM card slot which happens to be hot swappable. And before you remind us, yes, there's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth thrown in as well. So, apart from the regular netbook features, Nokia has cleverly integrated other connectivity options and functionalities that would make the Booklet 3G a very nice device to have whilst traveling. There is a front facing webcam and an SD card reader in the spec sheet as well.
More on the Booklet 3G will be seen at the Nokia World scheduled on Sept. 2 at Barcelona. That's when we'd be hearing when this one makes its official debut. We would also get to know the price range at which one of this kind can be purchased for!