Details emerge of Acer 10-inch netbook

The processor used in the 10-inch Aspire One is Intel's 1.6GHz N270 Atom processor. Bluetooth and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi are provided, as is optional 3G connectivity, although the latter will cost extra.

The built-in webcam has a resolution of 0.3 megapixels, and there is also a built-in digital microphone. The machine can take up to 2GB of RAM.

There are two options for the battery pack. The basic specification includes a three-cell battery, giving a battery life of three hours; the six-cell option should provide up to seven hours of use. Choosing the six-cell battery will, of course, increase the weight of the netbook to 1.33kg, up from the 1.18kg of the three-cell-equipped version.

The 10-inch Aspire One, which comes in white, blue, red or black, will go on sale in mid-February at a price of £299, including VAT. According to an Acer spokesperson, the 3G-capable version will go on sale a month later, at an as-yet-unspecified price. The spokesperson added that the 3G module would not be tied to a particular operator, and would work with any data-enabled SIM card.