A patent application filed by Nokia in October 2011 reveals that the Finnish phone maker had started developing a tablet even before the Microsoft Surface RT tablet was announced. According to the patent documents, Nokia was looking at a tablet with an integrated physical keyboard and kickstand, that could be folded up into a variety of ways according to how the user wanted it.
Unwired View points out that the patent application named ‘Apparatus Cover with Keyboard’ was likely not filed with Windows RT in mind since there was no information at that point of time about Microsoft’s OS for tablets. Nokia’s head of design, Marko Ahtisaari has already confirmed that Nokia is indeed working on a Windows 8 tablet although it’s not sure if the hardware features suggested by the patent application will actually turn up on the proposed tablet.
An image of the mythic Nokia tablet was recently spotted at one of the company’s events held in, of all the places in the world, Pakistan, and suggest that the tablet will wield an 11.6-inch screen. The tablet was expected to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona in February but obviously, that didn’t happen. The tablet is expected to have a cover that will house the battery, that is rumoured to provide 10 hours of use, and also convert into a kickstand.
With the new iPad also expected soon, it’ll be interesting how the Nokia tablet manages to entice buyers.
Source: Unwired View