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Nokia unveiled a Linux-based Wi-Fi enabled tablet device late last spring. Called the 770, it started shipping directly from Nokia in Europe for about 359 Euros this week.

Unlike the Finnish phone giant's handsets, the Nokia 770 only accesses the Web and receives e-mail via 802.11b/g broadband wireless, and not a cellular network. This makes the tablet a unique product in the Nokia canon.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave the company permission to release the device in the United States a few months later. There are rumors that the 770 will make its American debut next week.

At the time of the 770's initial announcement, Nokia VP of convergence products, Janne Jormalainen, said the company expected Wi-Fi use to continue to grow significantly. That's why Nokia would experiment with passing up cellular voice for WLAN voice communications in this new product.

Nokia said it hopes to free people from the Wi-Fi tether that it perceives desktop computers to be. "Most Internet use is done from a PC, which is usually fixed to a certain place and is pretty restrictive,” asserted Jormalainen.

Jormalainen added, “Wouldn't it be nice to make a Voice Over IP (VoIP) call from anywhere in the house, do instant messaging at the kitchen table, or do a Google search in the bedroom?"

Nokia won't add VoIP or instant messaging, for that matter, to the capabilities of the 770 until 2006 (after it is available), however.

In addition to Internet and e-mail access, the 770 will come with applications to read RSS news feeds, listen to audio, watch video, and view images. While its 802.11b/g radio lets users access the Internet via broadband wireless, support for Bluetooth enables you to use the tablet in conjunction with a Bluetooth-enabled phone; as part of a personal area network .

Unlike most of Nokia's smartphones, which are based on the Symbian operating system and the company's Series 60 (now called S60) or Series 80 interface, the 770 runs on Linux. It has 64 MB of RAM and a RS-MMC (reduced-size MultiMediaCard) slot for memory expansion.

The 770's landscape orientated touch-screen display measures 4.1 inches diagonally and runs at a healthy 800 x 480-pixel resolution. The unit itself measures 5.1 x 3.1 x 0.75 inches (141 x 79 x 19 millimeters) and weighs 8.3 ounces (230 grams).

When the 770 Internet Tablet does ship in the U.S., it is slated to go for around $350.