Samsung 4G dual-core netbook arriving this year

Samsung has launched a stylish new range of netbooks, dubbed the NF series.

While showing them off at the IFA tech expo and conference in Berlin, Samsung UK representatives stated that the Korean electronics giant plans to launch a model equipped with built-in 4G mobile broadband support, based on the next generation LTE standard, before the end of the year. LTE, or Long Term Evolution, networks should be significantly faster than current 3G networks.

Although our sources weren't willing to commit on this netbook's other technical specifications, such as whether it would stick with an Intel Atom processor or switch to AMD's new Fusion chip, they did reveal that this 4G LTE netbook will have two SIM cards slots. One for 4G and another for compatibility with existing 3G networks.

However, although O2 has carried out LTE trials in the UK, and LTE service is currently active in some American and Scandinavian cities, we do not know of any UK mobile network with plans to launch a LTE network. It is therefore possible Samsung's LTE netbook will launch first in other countries before making it to the UK.

This 4G netbook will, externally, most likely resemble the stylishly curvy NF models just announced, with a high resolution 1,366x768 screen, Bluetooth 3.0 and 2GB of RAM. Although it's likely to cost more than we've come to expect from a netbook, this wouldn't be surprising given the integration of a LTE modem.