Nokia Launches 8-inch Lollipop Tablet

Yesterday Nokia teased a mysterious product on its Twitter page. Now we know what this mysterious device is. On a product page, which was live on the Nokia website briefly before it was taken offline, the company revealed that it is launching an Android tablet with 8-inch screen. The tablet is called N1.

This Nokia is different from the part of the company that was sold to Microsoft. After the deal with Microsoft, Nokia -- without its smartphone division -- is looking to get back into the device game. However, with the terms & conditions that govern the deal with Microsoft forbidding Nokia from making a Nokia-branded smartphone until 2016, it seems the company sees tablet as its only viable option. 

The N1 was announced at Slush2014 conference in Helsinki. 

In terms of hardware, the N1 compares favourably to existing Android tablets. Its screen has a resolution of 2048 X 1536 pixels. The screen is also topped with Gorilla Glass 3. The device is powered by Intel Z3580 running at 2.3GHz and has 2GB RAM. The internal storage is 32GB. Nokia is using Android Lollipop on the N1, although the user interface is customised with Launcher Z, Nokia's Android launcher which was announced several months ago. It has 8MP rear camera and 5MP front camera. 

The Nokia N1 is undoubtedly a high-end tablet, designed to take on other high-end tablets as well as iPad Mini. And it makes this intent clear with its design. Unlike most Android tablets, the N1 uses a unibody shell made of aluminium alloy, similar to the one used by Apple in its iPad. For an 8-inch tablet it is also remarkably thin with thickness of 6.9mm. With weight of 318 grams, It is also lighter than iPad Mini (Retina Display).

For now Nokia hasn't revealed the price or details about availability of the tablet.