The wireless technology company Datawind today upped the stakes in the highly competitive netbook market by launching a new portable PC that offers free access to the internet from anywhere in the UK, .

The Datawind UbiSurfer is available now, at a price of £159.99, which includes 30 hours per month of internet surfing via the Vodafone network. The netbook can also connect using standard wi-fi or ethernet connections.

Datawind is best known for its Pocketsurfer devices, which predated the current popularity of netbooks and were an early attempt to bring the internet to the masses at an all-inclusive price. The third version of the Pocketsurfer was also announced today.

Suneet S. Tuli, the CEO of DataWind, said, “Our main driver as a company is to offer free internet to everyone, everywhere. With the UbiSurfer we are offering 30 hours a month of free usage and we mean free, no hidden costs, no wires and no contract. It’s this that sets us apart from others in the market.”

The embedded mobile SIM card and GPRS modem mean that the UbiSurfer can connect to the internet at high speed wherever a mobile signal is present. Surfing abroad in the USA and Europe will be charged at a rate of 5p per minute.

Buyers who use more than 30 hours surfing time per month can purchase an unlimited usage package for an additional £5.99 per month, while foreign usage can also be purchased in advance at a discount.

The Ubisurfer has a seven-inch screen and weighs 700 grammes, partly thanks to the fact that it only has 1GB of built-in storage, in the form of a solid state hard disk. The purchase price includes an additional 25GB of storage online.

It comes in a choice of polished black or rubberised black finishes, and runs a custom-built version of the Linux operating system. Built-in applications include web browsing, calendar, media player, XIP Office (word processor, spreadsheet, presentation), PDF Viewer, Email, Paint and Games.

This can be expanded with a USB or SD Flash Memory device. Other features include an SD/SDHC card reader, and three USB ports. Datawind claims a life of four hours for the battery between charges. A second year of 30 hours per month mobile access can be purchased for £29.99.

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