Handset manufacturer Nokia is combining mobility and the PC world with the new Windows-based Nokia Booklet 3G, a netbook that represents a growing trend with a huge impact on mobile marketing.

Powered by the Intel Atom processor, the Nokia Booklet 3G has up to 12 hours of battery life, letting consumers leave their power cable behind and still be connected on the go, representing an opportunity for mobile marketers to reach them. Delivering the PC experience inside a portable aluminum chassis, the new mini-laptop has a 10-inch glass HD-ready display screen, weighs 1.25 kilograms and its width measures slightly more than two centimeters.

"Clearly we have seen a number of carriers in the past year move to incorporate netbooks into their mobile device portfolio, and as these devices sprout wireless connections, they become more of an opportunity for a handset provider like Nokia," said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis, consumer technology, at the NPD Group, New York.

Competitors Samsung and LG both have netbooks that they offer in some regions.

The Booklet 3G lets Nokia compete with those companies in offering a device that can be more of a productivity tool and provide a richer Web-access experience than even the best smartphones can provide.

"It's noteworthy that Nokia, which has used other mobile operating systems such as Symbian and Linux-based Maemo, decided to go with Windows for a device with a 10-inch screen, which reinforces the fact that consumers have an expectation that devices that look like a notebook PC will act like a notebook PC," Mr. Rubin said.

"It does affect mobile marketers and advertisers, because if consumers are spending more of their time online on a PC as opposed to a mobile phone or a smartphone, it blurs the line somewhat between the investment that takes place on Web advertising, as opposed to mobile advertising," he said.

The kinds of tasks that consumers tend to do on a phone remains distinct by and large from what consumers are doing on notebooks in terms of accessing information on the go, according to NPD.

One possibility, if the mini-laptop trend continues to increase, is that usage patterns could shift away from, say, smartphone applications toward the desktop and mobile Web.

Eventually, marketers will have to think of the wired and mobile Internet as a single Web that is accessible from any device with its own operating system, and plan for all of the optimization issues that entails.

"We've certainly seen netbooks grow in popularity over the past year, as consumers are drawn to both their portability and price," Mr. Rubin said. "It has been difficult for manufacturers to make a lot of profit off the hardware, but as long as consumers keep demanding them, companies are going to keep offering them.

"Efforts are underway to try to entice customers to upgrade to devices with larger screens and more processing power, which cost a little more money, but so far the 10-inch screen is emerging as a sweet spot between capability and portability," he said.

"The ones that are being distributed by carriers tend to have internal 3G network connections, as does this Nokia device."

Blending mobile and PC functionality
Finland-based Nokia claims to be the world's leading maker of mobile devices. It dominates worldwide but is struggling to gain marketshare in the ultra-competitive U.S. handset market.

The company also provides digital map information through Navteq and equipment and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.

A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility, according to Nokia.

A range of connectivity options including 3G/HSPA and WiFi gives consumers high-speed access to the Internet, including Nokia's Ovi services.

Nokia did not announce which U.S. carrier would sell the Booklet 3G. Both AT&T and Verizon Wireless are distributing netbooks from Acer, HP and Dell.

"They've been selling quite well," Mr. Rubin said. "It's been very successful for carriers and opened up new channels for the hardware companies."

The mini-laptop also comes with an HDMI port for HD video out, a front-facing camera for video calling, integrated Bluetooth and an SD card reader.

Other features include integrated A-GPS, which, working with the Ovi Maps gadget, can pinpoint each consumer's position and enable a personalized mapping experience.

The Nokia Booklet 3G also provides a number of other Ovi experiences such as access and playback of music tracks through the Nokia Music Store and using Ovi Suite to sync from a Nokia smartphone to the mini-laptop and the cloud.

The Nokia Booklet 3G will widen the Nokia portfolio, satisfying a need in the carrier channel, according to the handset manufacturer.

Shifting priorities, changing categories
So if netbooks are not traditional laptops, and they're not smartphones, then what are they? Nokia is positioning the Booklet 3G as somewhere in between those two categories.

"Most netbooks come from PC manufacturers with PC competencies -- focusing on low price and computing power," said Sascha Segan, managing editor for mobile at PC Magazine, New York. "Nokia comes from a different world where battery life, connectivity and physical design are much more important.

"They're hoping netbook buyers want a mini-laptop where the priorities grew out of the mobile world, as opposed to being shrunken down from the laptop world," he said. "The laptop and mobile worlds have been converging for a while now, and this will accelerate the convergence.

Qualcomm's "smartbook" concept blurred the smartphone/laptop line already, promising laptops that run smartphone operating systems.

"Instead of a dramatic break between smartphones and laptops as before, we're going to see many shades of gray depending on what a consumer wants," Mr. Segan said.

The Booklet 3G's GPS functionality should be of interest to marketers, although the applications aren't as immediately obvious as they are with smartphones.

"GPS isn't a huge function on laptops, but some laptops with built-in 3G get GPS along with the 3G chipset," Mr. Segan said. "I don't think it will be a huge selling point here because people generally don't want to use GPS in a laptop form factor.

"But the GPS essentially came as a free bonus with the 3G here, so Nokia might as well try to make it into a differentiator," he said.

So for advertisers and marketers targeting consumers on-the-go, what advantages does the Booklet 3G have over other mobile devices?

"Advertisers have been chasing the grail of location-aware marketing on phones for years now," Mr. Segan said. "This brings a potential for location-aware marketing to laptops, thanks to the GPS chipset.

"You know the drill -- Web sites, coupons and other material that customize themselves to the user's physical location," he said. "Now advertisers need to get past the real hurdle, which is dealing with privacy concerns and opt-in issues."

Does this represent a growing trend that could represent the future of mobile marketing?

"More and more laptops will have 3G or 4G chipsets in the future, and those chipsets will come with GPS -- so, yes," Mr. Segan said. "The features you see in the Booklet will become more common as other laptop manufacturers borrow ideas from the smartphone world -- and vice versa.

"But we've had the technology on smartphones for location-aware marketing for years now, and it hasn't taken off because of user interface, opt-in, privacy and just plain implementation issues," he said.

"Laptops are now another platform where advertisers can better target their messages based on location, but it's up to visionary marketers to find a way to make that compelling to consumers."