Nokia Booklet 3G Slowly Emerging, Success Still Uncertain

The new Booklet 3G from Nokia with built-in 3G and GPS capabilities

Nokia unveiled its Booklet 3G netbook last month in the midst of a lot of anticipation. The device essentially is a netbook with some extra features that Nokia hopes will set it apart in the over-crowded netbook market.

The Booklet 3G has an inbuilt 3G modem that would allow the user to skip using third party devices in order to connect to a 3G network on the go. This is of course meant for high-speed data connections and voice calls won’t be possible. Hot swapping of SIM cards is allowed, which means that the operating SIM card can be swapped mid connection, resulting in no technical problems.

The device also has on board GPS with A-GPS for navigation. With its small form factor (10 inches), Nokia hopes to carve out a niche in the portable navigation market as well.

Despite the extra features, the device itself is still an Atom based portable computing device that suffers from the same limitations as the other Atom-based netbooks in the market. In addition to that, the price of the netbook is prohibitive at best at nearly $1000 for this small device.

The device is slowly being tried out by various independent testers and reviewers at the moment. It is obvious that the market is waiting for their collective opinion before making a purchase decision. Early adopters’ opinions will be waited upon more than usual this time as the market is trying to determine the real world viability of the product.

The Booklet 3G does have some unique advantages though and it is being aimed at those people who want to carry only one device while they are traveling. Convergent devices do have their appeal but whether the Booklet 3G can compete with the likes of the iPhone 3GS, remains to be seen.