Nokia could have a Windows 8 Tablet ready to launch by Q4 2012 latest rumors suggest. Let alone this there are also rumors of the features this tablet will have. Reportedly featuring the following specs, 10 inch screen & a Dual Core Qualcomm SoC, the tablet will be running Windows on ARM which Microsoft is confident will be released later this year.
200,000 units are expected to be made up for the initial shipment which will be outsourced to Compal Electronics. This doesn’t sound like a huge number considering Apple is shipping the iPad 3 in the millions. It looks like Nokia isn’t expecting this to be a big seller over the holiday season, or maybe they are holding off making any big orders as they are still unsure, like the rest of us, when Windows 8 will be released and whether or not it will be any good.
Nokia’s backing of Microsoft will surely help Microsoft in its bid to become the best tablet OS, but there will be some tough competition by the time we reach Q3/4 2012. The very popular Amazon Kindle Fire will see an updated version as well as the 7inch nexus tablet, which, if it’s anything to judge by the nexus phone will be very, very good and not forgetting the iPad 3, as well as loads of other vendors who are jumping on the tablet bandwagon (most notibly Asus, Aver, HP & Motorola).
Having owned an iPhone, an LG (running android) and having recently played with a Windows 7 phone (Nokia Lumia 800), if Nokia can put together a tablet that is as good as their Lumia 800, I will be one of the first to line up to buy it. Being able to use my MS Office documents on the Lumia sold me just with that, as most of my work is MS Office based, so being able to leverage the same tools was good. It interface was smooth and easy to use. Androids interface is clunky and my phone locks up far too often, i would never buy an Android based anything, every again. iPhone are good and iPads, but again, the limit of Apple not allowing Adobe Flash and other hassles like that, makes them far more of a consumer product than a work productivity product. So if Windows 8 is as good as Windows 7, then I will take a Windows 8 based tablet any day.