The N810, which updates the earlier Nokia N800 and N770 and is scheduled to launch next month, "packs the power of a traditional computer into a pocket-sized format," said Nokia Vice President Ari Virtanen.

For the Web 2.0 Fan

With the N810, the mobile user can make VoIP calls, go on the Web for e-mailing or playing videos, or use the integrated VGA camera. "You may feel lost without it," Nokia said in its announcement, "but you'll never lose your way," thanks to built-in maps and GPS navigation. If the user prefers to keep both eyes on the road, the N810 can be upgraded to use Wayfinder's voice-guided navigation.

Nokia chose the location of the announcement -- in San Francisco as the Web 2.0 Summit is opening -- for a reason. The targeted user is an inveterate Web 2.0 fan, looking to use Skype, Facebook, and other social-networking tools wherever they roam, typing away on the slide-out Qwerty keyboard. The price of this mobile sociability device is an estimated $479.

Of course, the N810 wouldn't be a very welcome companion if it didn't come with lots of party media. It can carry up to 45 hours of music on an optional 10-GB memory card, and offers a 800 x 480 screen for watching missed episodes of Heroes.

Some observers see an obvious resemblance to Apple's new iPod Touch, but Nokia is positioning the N810 as a more open platform. It runs the maemo Linux -based operating system , has a customizable user interface, and comes with Adobe Flash 9 installed on its Mozilla-based browser. Nokia said it is launching maemo platform support for developers . And owners of the previous N800 can upgrade to the current OS2008 version of maemo.

'An Interesting Device'

Maemo, according to the Nokia-supported maemo.org, is an open source development platform for Nokia's tablets and other Linux-based devices. A posting on the maemo blog from a Nokia insider noted that the hardware is basically the same on the N810 as on the earlier N800, but the new unit is smaller and has GPS. On the software side, the blog opined that the user interface "feels and looks better," and that the device has "the best browser of any portable device."

Chris Hazelton, an analyst with industry research firm IDC, called the N810 "an interesting device." He envisioned that people would use it to browse the Web while watching TV, or when they want to have Web access with a decent-sized screen but don't want to carry a laptop. As for whether tablet-based computers would see major adoption by consumer and business users, he said it is still too early in the growing mobility market to tell.