Pocket Book

NOKIA'S Booklet 3G is a looker, with its stylish curves and beautiful finish.

It will appeal to mobile professionals, students and women who want to be connected to the Web on-the-go.

At only 1.2kg and 20cm thin, it is light enough not to weigh down a tote. A screen size of 10.1-inch and a keyboard 20 per cent smaller than that of a regular laptop also make it handy and compact.

Price-wise though, the Booklet is not small.

Tagged at 575 euros (S$1,183), it is more expensive than competing netbooks which start at about $700. It is not known how much it will be priced here.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia's chief executive officer, who unveiled the Booklet 3G at the Nokia World event, gave broad hints that with telco subsidies, the Booklet 3G could cost nothing.

Available in white, black or blue, it connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi or a built-in 3G card. It is powered by an Intel Atom 1.6Ghz chip and has 1GB RAM and a 120GB hard disk.

Three USB ports provide extra media capacity and a HDMI-out port lets users view video clips on a HDTV. Its screen has a 1,280 x 720 pixel resolution which is good for viewing high-definition images and videos.

The Booklet 3G calls to mind Apple's feather-light 1.3kg, 13.3-inch laptop, the MacBook Air. But the similarity ends there.

Its heart beats with Microsoft's latest operating system software, Windows 7.

Every Booklet 3G will have access to Nokia's online music, game and applications store.

Nokia claims the battery will run for 12 hours but the demonstrator at the Booklet 3G booth at Nokia World said he had to recharge it after using it for about nine hours straight.