Nokia WiMAX-capable Internet Tablet Announced

Yesterday, Nokia announced the N810 Internet Tablet WiMAX Edition, which will be available in the U.S. this summer in areas where WiMAX connectivity is available.

The N810 is the first device from Nokia to take advantage of wide-area high-speed mobile WiMAX networks.

The shiny, black, pocket-sized device with a slider QWERTY keyboard weighs eight ounces and is .63” thick. At 2.8”long and 5” wide, it offers a high-resolution 4.13" WVGA touch screen display (800 x 480 pixels) with up to 65,536 colors, a 400Mhz TI HS OMAP 2420 processor, and 2GB of internal memory, expandable to 10 GB with the addition of an optional microSD memory card.

The device features a Mozilla-powered Web browser and supports a variety of popular Web-based services, including the Rhapsody online music service. VoIP and IM clients, including Skype, Google Talk, and Gizmo5, are available, as is a built-in Web cam and GPS.

If you’re worried about the sparse availability of WiMAX, never fear. The Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition can also connect via Wi-Fi or using conventional cellular data networks by pairing to a compatible mobile phone using Bluetooth.

Nokia also announced yesterday a new Internet Tablet operating system. The upgraded OS2008 includes an enhanced e-mail client, support for Chinese character rendering in the browser and RSS feeds, and a Seamless Software Update functionality. The new OS is standard on the Nokia N810 WiMAX Edition; current owners of Nokia N810 and N800 Internet Tablets with earlier operating systems will be able to upgrade their device to the revised operating system for free during the second quarter of 2008.

Naomi Graychase is Managing Editor at Wi-FiPlanet.