Nokia plans to release a tablet computer based on Microsoft's
Windows 8 operating system around the middle of next year, a senior
company official said in an interview Tuesday with a French
newspaper.
"In June 2012, we will have a tablet running Windows 8," Nokia
France head Paul Amsellem told the French daily Les Echos, in an
interview.
Given Nokia's close relationship with Microsoft, it's been widely
assumed that the Finnish phone maker would ultimately produce a
Windows 8 tablet, but Amsellem's comments provide the first public
confirmation of the company's plans.
What's not clear is whether June 2012 represents an on-sale
timeframe for the device, or whether Amsellem was referring to a
public unveiling, a preorder window, or some other milestone.
Amsellem may also have inadvertently let slip when Windows 8 might
be broadly available. Microsoft has yet to confirm a specific
launch date.
A spokesperson for Nokia said he was unable to clarify Amsellem's
comments. "Despite this report, we haven't announced any plans
anywhere in the world at this point regarding a potential tablet
strategy," the rep said in an e-mail to InformationWeek.
Microsoft and Nokia announced a broad alliance in February, under
which Nokia agreed to port its entire smartphone line to the
Windows Phone OS. In exchange, Microsoft has committed billions of
dollars to Nokia's mobile development efforts.
Given Nokia's global reach and manufacturing capacity, the company
could also help Microsoft get into the tablet race, which is
currently dominated by Apple's iPad and devices that run Google's
Android OS.
Microsoft has built Windows 8 to be tablet-friendly from the ground
up. It features a mode that borrows Windows Phone's Metro
interface, which is divided up into blocks, called Live Tiles, that
push live updates from social media, e-mail, and instant messaging
directly to the homescreen. The implication is that Windows 8
tablets may resemble a big Windows Phone device in look and
feel.
Microsoft has also said that it's developing a version of Windows 8
specifically for devices that run on processors built around ARM's
system-on-a-chip design, which has become the architecture of
choice for tablet makers.
"Windows 8 will power a broad range of devices, from desktops to
tablet computers," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told shareholders
Tuesday at the company's annual meeting in Redmond, Wash. "It has a
fast and fluid touch-first user interface but it will also work
great with a mouse and keyboard."
Microsoft first provided a preview of Windows 8 on June 1.
Source:
InformationWeek USA