RadioShack announces $99 netbook tied to AT&T data contract

Has the laptop subsidy game begun? RadioShack announced it is selling a $99 Acer netbook tied with a two-year wireless data contract from AT&T.

The netbook went on sale Dec. 14 and is available in 4,400 RadioShack stores through Dec. 24. The netbook will have an 8.9-inch LCD screen, an Intel Atom processor, a gigabyte of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. U.S. operators have been expected to begin subsidizing netbooks, which are more basic notebooks designed for web browsing, email and other routine tasks and are often priced under $500. Dell CEO Michael Dell predicted in October that laptop subsidies would happen soon, and John Thode, Dell's VP of small-screen consumer devices, said the announcement of such a deal would be forthcoming.

Will we see an onslaught of subsidized laptops?

 For more:
- see PC Magazine [1]
- check out this release [2]

Related articles:
Laptop subsidies: How aggressive will operators be? [3]
The 4G vision: Wireless embedded in every device [4]