Off the cuff comments by Nokia’s new France head honcho Paul Ansellem have got the rumour mill into high gear. Speaking to Les Echos, he said, “Et en juin 2012, nous aurons une tablette fonctionnant sous Windows 8”. So that seems pretty open and shut. Since then the Nokia Thought Police have kicked in, and no more is coming out of Espoo.
This does confirm very elliptical comments by Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who was quoted in BusinessWeek a few days ago hinting at a tablet. When quizzed on tablet plans, he said, “There’s a new tablet opportunity coming. We see the opportunity. Unquestionably, that will change the dynamics (of the tablet market).”
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Nokia has bet the farm on Microsoft and Windows Mobile (even though the MeeGo-based N9 has been generally quite favourably received), and a Win8 tablet certainly fits this strategy. Why a tablet? Because everyone else is doing one. Nokia has gone here before, with its ill-starred Booklet premium netbook.
