According to The Wall Street Journal, Nokia mobile solutions head Anssi Vanjoki has stated that Nokia will move beyond the phone space and will launch other MeeGo devices “such as tablets.”  Also, to lend more evidence to the case, Netbook News snapped some photos from a Nokia presentation at a recent event showing plans to build “MeeGo Computers.” The product roadmap suggests that the MeeGo 1.1  netbooks/tablets and/or computers could be ready to go before year’s end.

Nokia Booklet 3g

Over at CrunchGear, they’ve gotten one of the first Nokia Booklet 3gs and have put up a review of the new netbook from Nokia.  The model, as tested, was equipped with a 120GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and a Intel Atom Z530 Processor running at 1.6 GHz. I has an SD card slot, SIM slot, and supports WiFi and Bluetooth.  You’ll notice the inclusion of the Z530 processor instead of the N270 or N280, and it accounts for slow performance.  The Booklet got 774 on GeekBench, a low score considering the year old MSI Wind scored 837.  That lack of performance is noticeable in real life too, the reviewer complained of very slow response times within Windows, and low load times while just browsing the web and loading pages.  Suitable, it only scored a 2.2 in the Windows Experience score.

It’s not all bad news though.  There was praise for the aluminum body, and the overall look and feel of the machine was favourably compared to the new unibody Apple Macbook line.  The battery also made a good impression, lasting 10 hours during video playback, which closely matches it’s rated 12 hour run time.  It looks like Nokia chose battery life over power in this machine.

So to summarize, a decent effort by Nokia, but given it’s pricepoint, not a netbook I’m going to be running out the door to buy.  There are too many other, better alternatives like the Asus 1005HA and Samsung N140.  Both of which are a lot cheaper and can have 3g capability added cheaply via an internal 3g card, or a USB dongle.

Check out more pictures after the break, or read the full review here.

Nokia Booklet 3g Side View

Nokia Booklet 3g

Rumour has it there might be a Nokia Booklet 3g v.2

Nokia’s first Booklet 3g hasn’t even begun shipping yet here in the UK, but it’s reported that Nokia is already look at launching an updated version of the netbook next year.   According to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News report cited by DigiTimes, Nokia hopes to ride on the momentum of the first Booklet 3g, and netbooks in general by releasing a new version of Booklet 3G in 2010.

The Chinese report adds that demand for the first Booklet has been very strong, so much so that their manufacturing partner, Compal, is having a hard time keeping up.  That’s seems hard to believe, given that the Booklet isn’t shipping in the UK or US yet, but perhaps they are anticipating a huge spike in demand?

A UK release date for the Nokia Booklet 3g is still unknown, but we’d speculate that a release date is imminent – at least before Christmas.  Nokia’s netbook is currently already selling in Germany for €729 (£671/).

Nokia Booklet 3g in 3 colors

The aluminum shelled Nokia Booklet 3g netbook will hit O2 shelves in  Germany for €249 on a 2 year contract. The details are a bit grim though, you pay €249 upfront and then €20 a month for two years on top of the actual O2 wireless service, which is €25 a month. So, that’s a total of €749 for the Booklet 3G, plus the cost of the contract each month.  We’re hoping Nokia will have better deals for us in the UK…