Nokia Looks Into Netbooks

Nokia itself fueled rumors it would make its first netbooks late Wednesday with remarks by company chief Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo at a conference. The executive stopped short of committing to any plans but acknowledged that his company is "looking" at netbooks as part of its drive to make more converged devices. As the computer and phone get closer in feature sets, there's a "lot of opportunity" for Nokia to enter these catgories, Kallasvuo said.

The executive made no mention of what this would entail. Nokia has been reticent officially to enter the category and, when it announced its alliance with Intel, tried to shift the attention away from netbooks and towards more pocketable devices. It's nonetheless still rumored that the deal will result in an Atom-based netbook, though it may not necessarily repeat the same formula as conventional models from other companies. A 3G or 4G cellular link is also deemed probable given Nokia's history.

In addition to these comments, Kallasvuo provided a brief hint of the company's recent performance in smartphones and said both the touchscreen N97 and the business-oriented E75 were faring "extremely well" in stores, though he didn't provide numbers.

By Electronista Staff