"The Nokia 770 is a handheld computer intended to give consumers a simple way of hopping on the Internet. Priced at $350, Nokia says it is creating a whole new product category by offering a Web-browsing platform for home use with the versatility to travel to local, wireless hotspots," reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
"It's not a PDA or a PC, it's in that midrange where there's definitely a market out there for it," said Nokia spokeswoman Laurie Armstrong. "It's something people can use when they're frequently away from the desktop or in the backyard or a cafe or whatever the case."
The half-pound wireless device, measuring 5.6 inches long with a 4.1-inch high-resolution display, can also connect to the Internet using Bluetooth technology. The 770 does not include a cell phone, the field in which Nokia has made its mark, so users must use a separate cell phone to make a Bluetooth connection.
Infosync World has a brief into with pictures.
Comment: This sounds like our old friend the WebPad, which was briefly famous in a previous century. The idea was heavily overhyped by the anti-PC crowd but it's not clear that real sales ever got out of double figures. Times change, of course, and this Linux-based version is smaller and has a backer with massive market power, so let's not write it off too soon. However, at first glance, it looks pretty feeble compared to Palm's LifeDrive.
