Nokia brandishes superfluous Booklet
A laptop by any other name is just as meh
Comment Nokia has come late to the game with its Booklet, but the move is probably less about selling computers and more about ousting the cuckoos infesting Slough and Newbury.
Nokia has been trying to spin its Booklet as something end users want, when in reality it’s a piece of hardware designed to appeal to network operators who might otherwise be tempted to offer a subsidy on something from Dell, Acer or anyone else who sticks a 3G modem into their kit.
End users often imagine that cellular kit is created for their benefit, despite not expecting to pay for it beyond the usual overpriced contracts and calling rates. It's the network operators who choose which kit to subsidise, through long negotiations that used to take place on golf courses but are increasingly happening round a table at head office.
Samsung spent a fortune ensuring a seat at that table, while at O2's offices in Slough the meeting room concerned was completely refitted by Nokia, which was nice. But now everyone from Acer and Compaq to Toshiba are coming along with their laptops to negotiate a subsidy: providing the ideal opportunity to whip out their latest handset, just in case the operator is interested.
Which puts Nokia in a difficult position: let the competition in the door, or create a mediocre product to ensure the operators don't have to go elsewhere. It seems the latter option most appealed to the Finns.
Not that Nokia would admit this, of course - the company is obliged to harp on about the Booklet's "HD-Ready" display and 12-hour battery life. But this product isn't the start of any new direction for Nokia, just a little doorwedge to hold back the competition for another month or two. ®
COMMENTS
@Bill Cumming
+1. I want an ARM device; as of now the N810 seems the best option.
Since Nokia has missed this opportunity, I shall be entirely unsurprised if Apple is first-to-market with something groundbreaking with ARM and e-ink screen. Which, alas, probably means less openness and more lock-in than we'd get from Nokia.
Mediocre article
I wouldn't call Booklet mediocre. The leaked specs make it unique in this form factor. Even the processor is so new no other manufacturer has even released a presskit of a future product. Its screen resolution is on the higher end too and the first 10" notebook with HD connector. Wish it had 10/100 ethernet connector too but then it would have been made by the mentality "add all and then even the kitchen sink".
As for why Nokia is going for PC business one commentor here might have a good incling. Nokia has mainly made phones for shops, not for operators. So to think this has been made to entice network operators is a bit far fetched. This really could be a tit for pc makers moving into handsets. If they can use economics of size as they do with handsets many pc makers may be in trouble. And if you want to diversify to new markets and have cash, recession is the best time to hit.
Ps. Booklet is such a good name for netbook line I was surpriced it isnt registered yet.
Still a real GPS
A-GPS just means it is assisted to get an initial lock. Usually with phones or the current Nokia tablets they just contact a server to get the latest satellite positions.
They all still have a normal GPS chip and work without the "A", but the lock will be a minute or two instead of under 20 seconds.
To me this netbook looks much more like an Apple product than a normal plastic cheapo job from Asus. And with features like the GPS I am more than interested.
Superflouous?
Nope, it's just another netbook option to add to the competition. Always good. "What's competition?" I hear Apple say ;)
And this one comes with a spec better than most. If the price is right it's a winner.
If I hadn't bought my Samsung NC10 (slightly lower spec, no 3G), I'd be tempted by this if it's around the £300 to £350 mark.
For those who want to go for the instalment plan by paying contract and call fees, rather than a lump up front payment then it's just as attractive as any other. Bonus here though is being Nokia then it'll probably come SIM free if you pay for it outright whereas many netbooks with 3G included are tied to an operator.
And it's not late to the game. Most people don't have netbooks. Laptops are at saturation point now, but netbooks are still way behind even if there are a lot in the shops.
And remember these are netbook 2.0. The current flock of netbooks most people have bought in the last couple of years are crappy underpowered cut-down linux powered junk.
Far more important here though is not the gadget itself, but the use of Microsoft products in a Nokia device.
@F1reman
>The article wasn't bile.
Really ?
bile
1 a : either of two humors associated in old physiology with irascibility and melancholy b : a yellow or greenish viscid alkaline fluid secreted by the liver and passed into the duodenum where it aids especially in the emulsification and absorption of fats
2 a : inclination to anger b : acrimony, vitriol
I'd say by 1(a) or 2 (a) or (b) it smacks of it myself.....
> More Bill please.
Yep and more Ted - between them we can sweep those fact-based hand-biting wimps from El Reg once and for all. Who needs facts or reason when you can have OPINION.
> Although there's a whiff of bitterness in his writings I still like them.
Fairy nuff
