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Nokia announced it is moving beyond its mobile roots and boldly entering the PC market with its netbook offering dubbed the Booklet 3G.

The rumors surrounding Nokia’s entry into the netbook market have been circulating for several months now, and today the company made a splash by finally revealing its first computing product, an attractive yet small app-friendly device which blurs the lines between Ultra Mobile PC’s and netbooks.

The Windows powered aluminum device boasts a competitive 12 hours of battery life and also packs in WiFi connectivity, an HDMI port and integrated 3G and GPS, all in a neat well crafted 10″ package. The only thing that the company has chosen to keep quiet about spec wise was what version of Windows the device would use.

Nokia could tackle the increasingly popular netbook market by taking advantage of its history as a communications company. Whereas many manufacturers simply take the basic PC experience and make it portable, Nokia could attempt to integrate cell phone and laptop usage habits into one integrated device, thereby enhancing the user experience while on the move.

The integration of Nokia’s Ovi services within the Booklet is just one interesting step that the firm has taken in order to differentiate itself from other netbook providers, while also boosting Ovi’s profile. The benefits gained from having Ovi built into this new device are plentiful, from cloud storage, synched contacts, mail, media and more. Another smart move by Finnish firm is the Booklet’s integrated 3G capabilities, which will allow users to be connected pretty much anywhere, anytime, without a WiFi network.

These various additions on a whole could create a harmonious united link between your cell and netbook, that no other device has been able to offer before.

Check out the below video for further details on what the netbook can offer:

Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Devices, Kai Oistamo, had this to say regarding Nokia’s move into computing: “A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility, we are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us.”

What’s interesting is that Nokia choose to announce the new Booklet now, only days before Apple is expected to hold a media event where it may reveal its much discussed rumored tablet. By adding in 3G connectivity it can be assumed that Nokia is racing to seriously compete in the mobile computing market which is about to get all the more interesting, as Apple and Google turn up the heat.

Further details regarding the device, such as pricing and availability, will be revealed at the ‘Nokia World’ press event next week.

Nokia will join the ranks of netbook manufacturers with a stylish Windows-based offering called the Nokia Booklet 3G. It will have the looks of an Apple notebook and the guts of a PC. The netbook, 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.
The aluminum-encased Booklet 3G will be powered by an Intel Atom processor and deliver up to 12 hours of battery life “enabling people to leave their power cable behind and still be connected and productive,” the company said in a statement. The Booklet can connect to the Internet either by the built-in 3G card or by catching a Wi-Fi signal. It’ll weigh 1.25 kilograms (or just under one pound) and slip by at “slightly more than two centimeters thin (0.7 inches).”
Detailed specs, market availability and pricing will be announced at Nokia World on September 2. But here is what we know, according to details included in Nokia’s press release:

The Nokia Booklet 3G also ships with a GPS unit.
The 10-inch display will be glass, just like Apple’s family of aluminum MacBooks, for improved HD- and media-viewing.
Built-in access to the Nokia Music Store
Netbook will allow you to sync data with your Nokia handset or to a Web-based storage service.
Booklet 3G will have hooks to Nokia’s broad suite of Ovi services that include games, music and video offerings, and office productivity applications.
Judging from Nokia’s press release, the Nokia Booklet 3G will give Apple a low-priced run for its money. Returning students are choosing Windows-based netbooks at a substantially higher rate than Apple laptops, and Nokia grabbed this info and combined the stylish features found in Macs with the low-budget appeal of a netbook.

If Apple’s mythical tablet is real-and given the spate of rumors from multiple sources, it certainly appears to be — the device could be a natural-born book reader, ready to compete with Amazon, Sony, and soon Barnes & Noble in the burgeoning e-book market.
In fact, “compete” may be too soft a term. Apple could easily clean its opponents’ clock. It could quickly dominate e-books much as it conquered e-music with the launch of iTunes in 2003.

 
This is a concept image of a Mac tablet by MacFormat and is illustrated by Adam Benton.Yes, it’s time for a boilerplate caveat. This is sheer speculation. My assumptions are based on what we’ve heard about the Apple tablet, and on what many users see as shortcomings of the Amazon and Sony e-readers.
First off, let’s assume the tablet — or at least the larger version of it — has a 10-inch backlit display, wireless broadband, a touchscreen, and a Web browser. If so, it would provide a better ergonomic experience than the Amazon Kindle 2, which lacks backlighting and a touchscreen. Let’s also assume the tablet’s display will have a higher screen resolution than the Kindle’s 600 by 800 pixels, and that it’ll do a better job of managing PDF files. Add it all up, and the tablet is a better user experience, excluding battery life. It’s highly unlikely that Apple’s multifunction device would outlast the Amazon or Kindle reader in that competition.
What about the Kindle DX, Amazon’s larger e-reader with a 9.7-inch display? It suffers from many of the Kindle 2’s shortcomings, and seems more like a niche player destined for the education/textbook market.
And the Sony Reader? Well, it’s improving rapidly. The Reader Touch Edition has a 6-inch touchscreen; the Reader Daily Edition has AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband. But like the Kindle, the Reader is essentially a single-use appliance. And with prices ranging from $200 to $400, it’s a fairly expensive one at that. While reports indicate the Apple tablet may cost more — probably in the $600 to $800 range — it’ll do a lot more too, perhaps even double as a notebook PC.
Apple has one big edge over Sony: Its iTunes store is an established online marketplace that already sells music, movies, TV shows, and, of course, iPhone apps. Cupertino doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel to add e-books to its online retail mix. (Amazon, of course, is no slouch when it comes to online retailing either.)
To me, Apple’s biggest advantage in the e-book reader market would be the versatility of its tablet. Given a choice between an Apple tablet as described above, a Kindle 2, and a Sony Reader Daily Edition (the one with built-in 3G), I’d be willing to pay a little more for the tablet.
Will Apple enter the e-book market? We may find out as early as next month.

Contact Jeff Bertolucci via Twitter (@jbertolucci ) or at jbertolucci.blogspot.com .

A majority of college-bound students gearing up for school will not consider buying a Mac laptop, a study reveals. Instead, students are gravitating toward affordable netbooks from a variety of manufacturers, according to Retrevo, a consumer electronics website, that conducted the study.

Retrevo says Macs are at the bottom of student wish lists this year. While 49 percent of students will buy full-sized Windows laptops, 34 percent will purchase netbooks. Bringing up the rear is Mac with only 17 percent of students saying they intend to buy one, the study shows.

The most affordable new Apple laptop I could find sells for $949 (white MacBook). Compare that to the 18 percent of survey participants who say they won’t spend a dime over $1000 for a laptop and Apple doesn’t look to be the big man on campus this year. A majority of penny-pinching students, 58 percent of them, said they plan on spending less than $750 on their back-to-school laptop.

Apple has been targeting the education market this year with a special promotion offering a free iPod Touch with every MacBook sold. Judging from Retrevo’s study the lure is not that effective. Apple’s promotion ends on September 8.

Cheap netbooks, some even under $200, may just be good enough for students tight on cash and already saddled with credit card and tuition debt. With long battery life, a variety of designs, these affordable mini-laptops give students more for their tight budgets.

While netbook sales are strong, Apple has been reluctant to enter the cheap ultraportable computer war. Speculation about such a device has been floating around for over a year now, but Apple execs blasted the idea of an Apple netbook back in March.

But Apple could have something else in mind for the education market. The Cupertino company is rumored to launch a tablet-sized device either this year or in early 2010, which could have broad applications for the education sector as well.

We might want to take the Retrevo study with a grain of salt considering it only polled 300 site visitors. And, personally, I’m not terribly surprised by its findings. Since when has Apple ever been the big man on campus when it comes to computer operating systems? If 17 percent of college-bound students actually do what they told Retrevo and buy a Mac, that’s actually pretty good news for Apple. Market research firm Gartner points out the Mac market share here in the United States is a paltry 8.7 percent. Plus, according to market research from NPD, Apple has its own bragging rights. It owns 90 percent of the over-$1000 PC market.

Hey, maybe Microsoft’s laptop hunter ad campaign is working? Next we’ll find out college students prefer Bing to Google. Can we hide from assimilation?

Whether you are part of the Borg or not, you still might want to check the latest Top 10 Netbooks and get some shopping tips on how to buy a netbook.

Follow Daniel on Twitter @danielionescu

Artwork: Chip TaylorApple’s expected fall event, unveiling a revamped iPod line and other product news, may take place on Wednesday, September 9. The oft-rumored Apple tablet may not make an appearance, but other likely highlights are te debut of new social feature for iTunes 9, and an appearance by Steve Jobs (or not), accordint to All Things D.

iTunes Gets Social
Speculation that iTunes could jump into social networking emerged last week, and was deemed pretty dubious at the time. Seven days and another rumor later, they don’t seem so silly.

Artwork: Chip TaylorEarlier reports suggest that iTunes 9 would tie into a social networking application that could let you pull all your social networking identities into one place. You could also use this mysterious app to let your friends know what you’re listening to (similar to iLike’s iTunes sidebar), share music, and change your status updates. It’s not clear from earlier reports what “share music” means, but if I had to guess I would say this means you would simply be able to share playlists with your friends — a decidedly lame feature.

But iTunes already has a feature that lets you stream the libraries of other iTunes users who are on the same local network. What if Apple expanded this to some sort of Pandora-like feature that let you stream the libraries of your friends within your social network? This is complete speculation on my part, and applications like Mojo already let you share your iTunes library online, but it would be a great feature if Apple added it as a standard part of iTunes.

iPod Touch
The iPod Touch is expected to get more storage and a lower price, with Apple launching three models of the device in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB flavors. The devices would cost $199, $299, and $399 respectively. This is probably the safest bet among the current crop of Apple rumors, and more iPod Touch storage is no surprise considering the iPhone just got a storage update. Apple also has a new competitor in the Zune HD, so a price drop would be important and could stop the Zune from taking even a small chunk out of Apple’s business.

There’s also a rumor that the iPod Touch could be getting a 2MP or 3MP camera; a great feature the Zune HD doesn’t have.

Cocktail, Anyone?
Computerworld’s Seth Weintraub is guessing Apple’s upcoming event includes an announcement of another secret project from 1 Infinite Loop: Cocktail. It’s supposed to be some sort of multimedia experience that will revolutionize the traditional music album. Features include music, videos, photos, album liner notes, and other media all bundled into one package.

This project may be very real, but earlier reports had the project tied to the Apple tablet. If Apple is introducing new features with iTunes 9 already, then it’s possible the company may want to tie Cocktail into the September event as well.

Apple Tablet
What is probably disappointing to most of you out there is the suggestion Apple’s rumored iPod Touch-like tablet device may not make its appearance next month. While the tablet sounds like a great device, let’s remember that we still only have rumor and innuendo suggesting the thing actually exists. What’s more, the only person who claims to have seen the thing is an analyst who was so smitten by the device he thought it was the best movie experience he’d ever seen. Either that analyst doesn’t get out much, or was so deeply affected by the Jobsian “reality distortion field” he simply lost his mind.

Breathe, everybody — let’s hold onto a healthy dose of skepticism about the tablet until we actually see the thing, and more importantly, until we see what it can do. (Or check out our gallery of all the rumored designs.)

22 Days and Counting
We may have little more than three weeks until Apple’s September event announcing a new line of iPods and more features for iTunes. Apple isn’t saying, but All Things D is betting on an event at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts — a previous locale for Apple events. Interestingly, September 9 was the exact date of last year’s Apple iPod event when the company introduced revamped iPods and iTunes Genius.

In an effort to expand its Linux offerings, Dell is researching new netbook-type devices and will soon offer netbook Linux OS upgrades, a company official said on Wednesday.

The company is researching the possibility of offering new Linux-based mobile devices called smartbooks, said Todd Finch, senior product marketing manager for Linux clients, at the OpenSourceWorld conference in San Francisco. The company will also upgrade its Ubuntu Linux OS for netbooks to the latest version in the next few weeks, he said.

Smartbooks are netbook-type devices that are powered by chips designed by Arm. The devices mostly support the Linux OS and are designed for those who rely on the Web for most of their computing. Dell couldn’t say whether it would ultimately offer a smartbook.

Smartbooks have similar characteristics to netbooks, including cramped keyboards and small screens. No major PC vendor has yet announced an interest in smartbooks, though small vendors are pushing them as an alternative to netbooks, which are mostly based on Intel’s Atom chips and come with Microsoft’s Windows OS. Many vendors, including Qualcomm and Freescale, are providing Arm chips for smartbooks that could hit shelves by the end of this year.

Smartbooks with Arm chips have inherent advantages over x86 chips like Atom, such as lower power consumption and longer battery life, Finch said. The chips are also becoming more powerful, as indicated by the growing number of applications on smartphones, he said.

“I think it’s natural and reasonable for us to begin looking at them as they begin scaling their processors up,” Finch said.

Putting an Arm chip — mainly found in smartphones — inside a lightweight PC could provide an early entry point for Dell into the smartphone space, said Jay Chou, research analyst at IDC. Dell has hinted at entering the smartphone area many times, but no product has materialized yet.

While netbooks are the craze, smartbooks are hard to ignore, Chou said. Interest in the device will grow over time because it enables lightweight and low-priced computing devices, which could interest PC makers. Pricing is also a major criteria for buyers, and Linux netbooks are cheaper than their Windows counterparts.

But smartbooks could struggle as Windows remains the dominant OS for netbook-type devices, with a strong software ecosystem around it, Chou said. Smartbooks may have a hard time gaining traction, and much of their future success will depend on the software ecosystem.

The target market for smartbooks will be no different from Linux-based netbooks as they both have the same usage scenario, Dell’s Finch said. Like smartbooks, Linux-based netbooks are targeted at those looking for quick access to Web-based applications. “The more [Web-based] applications there are, the better it is for Linux,” Finch said.

The growing interest in Linux is partly driven by Dell’s success with Linux on its netbooks. Close to a third of all netbooks Dell ships during certain quarters are preloaded with Linux, he said.

Dell is currently the fifth-largest netbook vendor worldwide, according to IDC’s Chou. Linux-based netbooks made up about 5 percent of overall worldwide shipments during the last quarter.

However, a bulk of Dell’s netbooks today ship with Windows XP, which remains the OS of choice for consumers, Finch said. The popularity of Windows won’t change overnight, he said.

“There are still a large percentage of people that prefer Windows, even on a netbook,” Finch said. Many are familiar with the look and feel of Windows, and are unwilling to trade in for the longer battery life offered by Linux. He couldn’t comment about the possible adoption rates of Windows 7, which is due for release on Oct. 22.

Dell currently offers Ubuntu Linux version 8.04 with the Mini 10v netbook, which is being upgraded to the latest 9.04 version — code-named Jaunty Jackalope — in the next few weeks. Dell will be pre-loading the Web-centric Ubuntu Netbook Remix, which is designed for small screen sizes, on future netbooks. Its Web-centric design provides quick access to online applications, and the OS builds in support for a larger number of drivers.

The company is also researching Google’s Chrome for use in netbooks. The OS is a thin version of a Linux-based operating system that also will provide quick access to the Web and online applications.

In an effort to expand its Linux offerings, Dell is researching new netbook-type devices and will soon offer netbook Linux OS upgrades, a company official said on Wednesday.

The company is researching the possibility of offering new Linux-based mobile devices called smartbooks, said Todd Finch, senior product marketing manager for Linux clients, at the OpenSourceWorld conference in San Francisco. The company will also upgrade its Ubuntu Linux OS for netbooks to the latest version in the next few weeks, he said.

Smartbooks are netbook-type devices that are powered by chips designed by Arm. The devices mostly support the Linux OS and are designed for those who rely on the Web for most of their computing. Dell couldn’t say whether it would ultimately offer a smartbook.

Smartbooks have similar characteristics to netbooks, including cramped keyboards and small screens. No major PC vendor has yet announced an interest in smartbooks, though small vendors are pushing them as an alternative to netbooks, which are mostly based on Intel’s Atom chips and come with Microsoft’s Windows OS. Many vendors, including Qualcomm and Freescale, are providing Arm chips for smartbooks that could hit shelves by the end of this year.

Smartbooks with Arm chips have inherent advantages over x86 chips like Atom, such as lower power consumption and longer battery life, Finch said. The chips are also becoming more powerful, as indicated by the growing number of applications on smartphones, he said.

“I think it’s natural and reasonable for us to begin looking at them as they begin scaling their processors up,” Finch said.

Putting an Arm chip — mainly found in smartphones — inside a lightweight PC could provide an early entry point for Dell into the smartphone space, said Jay Chou, research analyst at IDC. Dell has hinted at entering the smartphone area many times, but no product has materialized yet.

While netbooks are the craze, smartbooks are hard to ignore, Chou said. Interest in the device will grow over time because it enables lightweight and low-priced computing devices, which could interest PC makers. Pricing is also a major criteria for buyers, and Linux netbooks are cheaper than their Windows counterparts.

But smartbooks could struggle as Windows remains the dominant OS for netbook-type devices, with a strong software ecosystem around it, Chou said. Smartbooks may have a hard time gaining traction, and much of their future success will depend on the software ecosystem.

The target market for smartbooks will be no different from Linux-based netbooks as they both have the same usage scenario, Dell’s Finch said. Like smartbooks, Linux-based netbooks are targeted at those looking for quick access to Web-based applications. “The more [Web-based] applications there are, the better it is for Linux,” Finch said.

The growing interest in Linux is partly driven by Dell’s success with Linux on its netbooks. Close to a third of all netbooks Dell ships during certain quarters are preloaded with Linux, he said.

Dell is currently the fifth-largest netbook vendor worldwide, according to IDC’s Chou. Linux-based netbooks made up about 5 percent of overall worldwide shipments during the last quarter.

However, a bulk of Dell’s netbooks today ship with Windows XP, which remains the OS of choice for consumers, Finch said. The popularity of Windows won’t change overnight, he said.

“There are still a large percentage of people that prefer Windows, even on a netbook,” Finch said. Many are familiar with the look and feel of Windows, and are unwilling to trade in for the longer battery life offered by Linux. He couldn’t comment about the possible adoption rates of Windows 7, which is due for release on Oct. 22.

Dell currently offers Ubuntu Linux version 8.04 with the Mini 10v netbook, which is being upgraded to the latest 9.04 version — code-named Jaunty Jackalope — in the next few weeks. Dell will be pre-loading the Web-centric Ubuntu Netbook Remix, which is designed for small screen sizes, on future netbooks. Its Web-centric design provides quick access to online applications, and the OS builds in support for a larger number of drivers.

The company is also researching Google’s Chrome for use in netbooks. The OS is a thin version of a Linux-based operating system that also will provide quick access to the Web and online applications.

China said Thursday it will not force PC makers to bundle an Internet filtering program with computers sold in the country, backing down from a plan that stirred global controversy.

China will “definitely not” require the program, called Green Dam, to be packaged with all consumer PCs, said Li Yizhong, China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology, according to a transcript of his statements on a government Web portal.

China originally ordered all foreign and domestic PC vendors to pre-install Green Dam on new machines or to include the software on a CD-ROM. That mandate, issued in May, was indefinitely postponed just hours before it was slated to take effect last month. At the time, the Chinese government said it delayed the plan only to give PC makers more time to comply, but it did not set a new date for enforcement.

Thursday’s statements were the first clear sign that China would not enforce the plan, which drew strong protest from Western PC makers and industry organizations. China has insisted that the Web filter was meant to protect children from pornography, but the program was also found to block Web sites that mentioned sensitive political topics such as Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned in China as a cult.

Concerns about the program ranged from free speech and user privacy to PC security and intellectual property violations. A California-based software maker last month said it was preparing legal action over Green Dam for its use of programming code stolen from the company.

Li said use of the filter was meant to be optional and that the plan was misunderstood because it was not explained clearly. The software can be disabled or uninstalled.

PC makers including Lenovo, Acer and Asustek Computer have gone ahead with plans to distribute the program.

China’s government will go ahead with installation of Green Dam on computers in public schools, Internet cafes and other public places, Li said. It is also working to address flaws in the program and would not rule out introducing a better filter, he said.

Mac users running Windows via Mac OS X’s Boot Camp feature on a laptop can look forward to an improved experience with their computers’ trackpads. Apple Tuesday released Multi-Touch Trackpad Update 1.1, which promises improved reliability when running Windows XP and Vista through Boot Camp.

According to Apple’s release notes for the Multi-Touch Trackpad 1.1 update, it’s aimed at users with 13-inch unibody MacBooks released in late 2008 or any MacBook Air model released since late 2008.

Users should download the update while running Windows XP or Vista. When the download is complete, double-click on the AppleBCUpdate.exe file that will appear on the desktop and follow the onscreen installation instructions. If you’re not eligible for the update, a message telling you as much will appear and the update won’t install.

This is the second Multi-Touch Trackpad update for Windows XP and Vista released in the past year; Apple released a similar firmware update in December.

Mac users running Windows via Mac OS X’s Boot Camp feature on a laptop can look forward to an improved experience with their computers’ trackpads. Apple Tuesday released Multi-Touch Trackpad Update 1.1, which promises improved reliability when running Windows XP and Vista through Boot Camp.

According to Apple’s release notes for the Multi-Touch Trackpad 1.1 update, it’s aimed at users with 13-inch unibody MacBooks released in late 2008 or any MacBook Air model released since late 2008.

Users should download the update while running Windows XP or Vista. When the download is complete, double-click on the AppleBCUpdate.exe file that will appear on the desktop and follow the onscreen installation instructions. If you’re not eligible for the update, a message telling you as much will appear and the update won’t install.

This is the second Multi-Touch Trackpad update for Windows XP and Vista released in the past year; Apple released a similar firmware update in December.