Nokia’s Marko Ahtisaari Confirms Plans for a Windows Tablet

Before the end of this year, Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia might bring to the market its first tablet PC, some of the latest reports on the matter suggest.

The company has been long rumored to plan the release of a slate that could arrive on shelves with Microsoft’s Windows platform, and it appears that we’re finally nearing an official release. 

In 2012, Nokia is expected to launch a tablet that would take advantage of Microsoft’s soon-to-be-released Windows 8 platform. 

These are only suppositions, since nothing has been made official on the matter as of yet. However, Nokia hasn’t yet denied the possible release of such a device. 

In fact, it appears that the company has confirmed the upcoming device. According to Reuters, Marko Ahtisaari, head of design at Nokia, spoke of this tablet with the Finnish magazine Kauppalehti Optio.

While he did not offer specific info on the device, nor on its availability, what he said offered some substantiality to previous reports on Nokia’s plans. 

The Finnish handset vendor is expected to release the said slate with a Qualcomm Snapdragon application processor inside, and with a 10-inch screen. 

This means that its owners will be provided with the features and capabilities of Windows on ARM, and that they will enjoy only the Metro UI and the applications designed for it. 

Considering the tight relation between Nokia and Microsoft, it does not come as a surprise that the former is working on the release of a Windows 8 tablet. 

In fact, its release was somehow expected ever since Nokia announced that it adopted Windows Phone as its only smartphone OS moving forth. 

The release of this device should prove beneficial for all involved parties. After all, Nokia does have an impressive smartphone user base to tap on to with a tablet PC (Windows Phone, Symbian and MeeGo Nokia users included).

Posted in: News, Preview, Tablet