Nokia enters netbook market with Booklet 3G

We’ve been hearing rumors about a Nokia netbook for some months now, but today the Finnish company has actually made it official with the “Booklet 3G” — a stylish Intel/Microsoft-based netbook that promises an ambitious 12-hour battery life, a weight of just 2.75 pounds, and the kind of extras you would expect from a cell phone manufacturer.

The Booklet 3G is a Windows machine powered by an Atom processor and, according to Nokia, will have close ties to the company's Ovi suite of online services and mobile applications currently available to Nokia handset owners. Its thin (0.7 inches) aluminum case holds an HDMI-out port, along with the usual webcam, Bluetooth, SD card reader and 10.1-inch display.

As you might have guessed, the device can connect to the Internet either by a built-in 3G card or Wi-Fi, but Nokia ups the ante with a hot-swappable SIM card slot and Assisted GPS integrated out of the box. Pricing and availability information for the Nokia Booklet 3G is not yet available; the company said it will be releasing more details about the device next week at Nokia World.