14 DAY TRIAL // The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) got yet another netbook model to scrutinize, this time from Toshiba. A leaked FCC filing shows that the IT company has been working on a mobile computer equipped with 3G connectivity capabilities and likely based on Intel's Pine Trail platform. The filing doesn't exactly give out any major details on the product, mentioning little more than the product's name, NB305, and the presence of 3G technology. Still, as it has become customary before any official release, speculations have already been made on what the device will feature.
For instance, it has the aforementioned dual-mode 3G for EVDO and HSPA networks. This means that not only will the netbook have good wirelesss connectivity, but will also likely be subsidized instead of merely marketed by Toshiba itself. This means that carriers might have the device on sale as part of contracts. The N300 and the N305 models in question may, for instance, make use of Qualcomm's Gobi chipset. This would allow the netbook to be sold through carriers such as Verizon, Sprint or AT&T without any need for hardware modifications.
“Please be advised that Qualcomm Incorporated authorizes Toshiba Corp. and Compliance Certification Services to utilize compliance data from Part 22/24 RF conducted test report of the Qualcomm model No: Gobi 2000, FCC ID: J9CGOBI2000 to demonstrate compliance for the Toshiba Netbook Computer Model No: NB300/ NB305, FCC ID: CJ6UPLL3APC,” the filing says.
The FCC filing doesn't describe the actual system specifications. Still, the people at Electronista state that “it's near certain the system will be based on Intel's 45nm Pine Trail-based Atom and will probably use the 1.66GHz Atom N450 to get 20 percent more battery life and slightly higher performance.”
Still, if Toshiba aims to give its notebook multimedia features, the ION 2 would likely be better suited, especially since NVIDIA recently revealed that its next-generation ION chips is also compatible with Pine Trail. The first large release of Pine Trail netbooks is currently set to happen just before CES, which outrules this possibility (the ION will be launched during CES, meaning after the actual Pine Trail netbook releases).