Targeting a burgeoning consumer electronics market that reportedly is drawing the interest of Apple (News - Alert) Inc., AT&T today announced that it’s bringing “ultra-portable mini laptops” with 3G wireless capabilities to Atlanta and Philadelphia area residents.

 

The devices, which sound strikingly similar to Netbooks, will go for $50 with the purchase of AT&T (News - Alert) “Internet at Home and On the Go” broadband services, company officials say.

 

David Christopher, chief marketing officer of AT&T’s mobility and consumer markets, said that broadband is not just about speed anymore, that “it’s about mobility.”

 

“We want our customers to have Internet at Home and On the Go,” Christopher said. “Pairing mini laptops with AT&T’s home, Wi-Fi, and mobile broadband offerings enables consumers to get the most from their new devices, virtually anywhere, anytime.”

 

The move could mark the biggest move that AT&T has made since it become the exclusive carrier for the Apple iPhone (News - Alert) last summer.

 

As TMCnet’s Gary Kim writes here, it would be difficult to overestimate the impact the device has had, as a business innovation, for AT&T, in ways that have nothing to do with device features, user interface or changes in user behavior.

“The iPhone seems to have a significant role in boosting AT&T's wireless market share, wireless data subscriptions, service upgrades, floor traffic, sales close rate and even sales of other smartphone devices and data plans,” Kim writes.

AT&T’s Internet at Home and On the Go package combines home and mobile broadband and it starts as low as $59.95 per month, including access to the company’s 3G network and unlimited domestic access its WiFi (News - Alert) network, including nearly 20,000 AT&T Hot Spots.

 

It’s interesting that AT&T is targeting the Netbook market as it’s iPhone partner, the developer of the device, Apple, is rumored to be doing the same.

 

Last month, as TMCnet reported, IT bloggers and online magazines cited news out of a China-based Web site that a company there is designing touch panels for Apple Netbooks.

 

According to a story from Yvonne Yu of DIGITIMES, the Chinese-language Commercial Times is reporting that Taiwan-based Wintek will supply touch panels for Apple‘s new netbook, and that shipments will start in the third quarter this year.

 

As TMCnet has reported, Netbooks sell for about $400 and have emerged as a bright spot in the struggling electronics industry – though companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Lenovo have seen earnings dips and have been forced to lay off thousands of workers, partly because of the devices’ increasing popularity.

 

According to Yu, officials at Wintek Corporation told the Commercial Times that they were “working with Apple to develop some new products, but it said it does not know what applications the new products are for.”

“Wintek added that no shipment schedule has been worked out yet, but shipments are likely to begin in the second half of the year,” Yu reports.

 

Yu also reports that Taiwan’s Quanta Computer – a 20-year-old company that says it’s the largest notebook computer ODM company in the world – will make Apple’s new netbook, according to the Commerical Times.

 

The news may confirm rumors, reported here by TMCnet, that Apple is eyeing a larger iPod Touch debut later this year.

 

Sources close to Apple reportedly have said that the company will release a large-screen device next fall, according to a Web-based blog that reviews Internet products and companies.

 

Officials at AT&T say their mini laptops will be available in AT&T stores and will include the Acer Aspire One, Dell (News - Alert) Inspiron Mini 9 and Mini 12, and LG Xenia. Promotional prices range from $49.99 to $249.99 with the purchase of an AT&T Internet at Home and On the Go plan, which includes an AT&T DataConnect plan and AT&T Fast Access DSL, starting at $59.95 per month. Without those AT&T services, these mini laptops range in price from $449.99 to $599.99.

 

“With the purchase of a two-year AT&T DataConnect plan only, mini laptop pricing ranges from $99.99 to $349.99,” company officials say. “AT&T is offering two mobile DataConnect plans in the trial, including a 200MB plan for $40 per month and a 5GB plan for $60 per month — options that meet the needs of casual to occasional data users, as well as frequent and heavy users.”