Nokia may be looking to expand its Lumia line beyond Windows Phone 8 smartphones, according to recent reports. The Finnish manufacturer is allegedly prepping a 10-inch Windows RT 8.1 tablet slated to debut as early as next month.
The tablet is said to come with a 1080p display with five point multitouch and wide viewing angles, reports Microsoft News citing an anonymous tipster. It will allegedly be powered by a 2.15-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip and will come with 2GB of storage built in. Like many Windows 8 and RT devices, the purported Nokia tablet will come with a detachable keyboard similar to the Touch and Type covers for the Microsoft Surface. There’s also a battery in this keyboard stand for extra power, the report says.
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The slate will come with USB ports in the back as well as Micro HDMI slots and wireless/cellular connectivity. Microsoft News says that the Cyan-colored Nokia tablet will be available via AT&T in terms of cellular service, but has not mentioned any details on pricing. These rumors come at a time when Microsoft’s other OEM partners have abandoned the Windows RT platform.
“It’s not our only opinion, the industry sentiment is also that Windows RT has not been successful,” ASUS CEO Jerry Shen told The Wall Street Journal when announcing that the company would no longer make Windows RT devices.
Nokia has not announced any plans for a September event, but the company could potentially use next month’s IFA trade show as a launch platform. Nokia has been tossing around the idea of launching a tablet for quite some time now, with its vice president of design saying that “a third of his time” is being spent on crafting a tablet, according to a Reuters report from March 2012.
On Wednesday Microsoft announced that Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 will officially launch in October to coincide with new hardware from its partners, so it’s possible that this could be one of those devices.
