Nokia has unveiled the Booklet 3G, a netbook with high-speed mobile broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity, and a GPS receiver, the company said today.

The Booklet 3G should run for up to 12 hours on one battery charge, Nokia said. It weighs 1.25 kilograms, has an aluminium chassis and is slightly more than 2 centimetres thick.

The device also has a 10-inch screen, and can connect to bigger displays using an HDMI port, according to Nokia. Like most other netbooks on the market, it contains an Intel Atom processor and will run Windows -- although Nokia isn't yet ready to say which version of the OS.

Detailed specifications, market availability and pricing, will be announced at Nokia World on Sep. 2, Nokia said in a statement.

Nokia said the move into the portable computing market is a natural evolution for the company. The launch of the device has been rumoured for several months.

The company is clearly hoping to take advantage of its brand and its mobile phone distribution channels to compete in the cutthroat netbook segment, according to market research company CCS Insight.