Nokia Wants a Piece of the Netbook Pie

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.liliputing.com/2009/08/nokia-launches-booklet-3g-netbook.html' target='_blank'>http://www.liliputing.com/2009/08/n...3g-netbook.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"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, &ldquo;HD ready&rdquo; display."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1251311150.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Nokia has announced their take the the netbook, the Booklet 3G.&nbsp; Most of the specifications seem pretty similar to most other netbooks, with a 10 inch display, WiFi, Bluetooth and Atom CPU.&nbsp; There are some notable boosts like a built in 3G modem, 12 hours of battery life and its claim of an "HD Ready" display.&nbsp; Still, rumours are flying around that they intend on pricing it at $799 without a contract, which definitely sets this netbook apart.&nbsp; 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.</p>

[Jason Dunn]

The market of people willing to pay three times for Internet access is pretty small - I don't even count myself among that group, and I make my living online. I pay once for cable modem access at home - about $50 or so per month. Then I pay another $30 or so for the data plan on my phone, but because it has to come with a voice plan, it's more like $80 per month. So I'm paying $130 CAD per month to get Internet access on my computers and phone. There's just no way I'd be willing to shell out another $50 or so per month in order to be able to get cellular data on a netbook.

There's only so many times consumer will pay to access the same thing in a different way - hell, data plans are still too expensive for most people at $30, though it's better than the $75/month here it used to cost.

I think the carriers are smoking crack myself - what they need to be doing is offering USB dongles at "add-on" prices to current data plans. Meaning for $10 a month your USB dongle will draw against the same data plan as your phone. That's the kind of thing I'd pay for.

The one thing that does interest me though is that Nokia tends to make some very high-quality hardware...so I'm keen to see what they can do with a netbook.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Jason, it is sad that NA situation for mobile data isn't great (especially so for Canada). However do note that the Asian and European markets might be less expensive AND restrictive when it comes to data plans. For instance I'm paying US$25 for HSDPA, with a combined limit of 100 GB of transfer, and one of the plans is on a dual SIM service at US$3 a month, giving me two SIMs tied to the same data plan.

On the device itself, I'm not particularly interested in it, even if the price is based on a Euro conversion rate (which is stupidly high for tech products). I wants tabletz!

[Stinger]

Still, rumours are flying around that they intend on pricing it at $799 without a contract, which definitely sets this netbook apart.

The most reliable source (Eldar, from Mobile Review) says that it'll be 399€ ($569).

However do note that the Asian and European markets might be less expensive AND restrictive when it comes to data plans.

Agreed. I get 3GB per month for £7.50 ($12.15) inc. tax. If you've got an existing plan with a carrier, you can usually get a very good deal.

I think Nokia has made this netbook for two reasons:

1. To sell to carriers in the same way as it currently does with cell phones.
2. To push their Ovi services to more people. That's why it has GPS, I assume.

[Jason Dunn]

For instance I'm paying US$25 for HSDPA, with a combined limit of 100 GB of transfer, and one of the plans is on a dual SIM service at US$3 a month, giving me two SIMs tied to the same data plan.

That's great to hear - and that's exactly what I want! Guess I need to move to Asia. :D