Nokia is returning to the hardware market! A secretive tweet posted to Nokia’s Twitter account on Monday lead many to believe that Nokia was working on a streaming box, much like Apple TV or Google’s Chromecast.
Guess what? We’re up to something. http://t.co/AFq4dUFI9S #thinkingahead #Slush14 pic.twitter.com/sqERYpz0Vc
— Nokia (@nokia) November 17, 2014
It turns out however that this was not the case, and in fact Nokia is actually making a comeback to the hardware market with a new Android tablet – the N1. In a press release Nokia said “The N1 offers the innovative, predictive Nokia Z Launcher interface, and a carefully crafted industrial design by Nokia with a focus on simplicity. The N1 will be brought to market in Q1 2015 through a brand-licensing agreement with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partner responsible for manufacturing, distribution and sales.”
From what we’ve seen so far this new interface is a 4×3 grid that has all of your favourite apps on it, as well as the ability to draw a letter on the screen, which will then cause the “Nokia Z Launcher” to search for all all of your installed apps that come under that letter. Design and software have been licensed to Foxconn who will manufacture the new Android 5.0 tablet.
Powering Google’s latest instalment of Android is a 2.4GHz Intel Atom Quad Core CPU, and interestingly to note, it is 64bit. This powers a 7.9″ laminated display which sits in a 6.9mm thin, single piece, aluminium shell with a sandblasted finish to give it a smooth texture, whilst a 5300mAh battery will power it. It may all be sounding a little too familiar though, and many have been quick to criticise that the tablet seems very much similar to Apple’s iPad Mini, with the same shape, finish and button placement.
You can check out the full release here, and I’ve embedded some photos of Nokia’s new device below too. So what do you think? Is this a welcome return for Nokia to the hardware market, or an attempt to clone Apple’s iPad? Let us know.
