Probably the biggest news in the mobile world this belonged to Nokia. Following the sale of its devices and services section to Microsoft, the Finnish company was left with three major departments (Mapping, Networking, and R&D). Which made the reveal of an Android powered tablet at this week’s Slush Conference all the more surprising.
This is the first of presumably many brand licensing deals put in place by Nokia. The majority of the heavy lifting for the N1 will be done by Foxconn (including the manufacturing, distribution, warranty repairs, and software support), who have licensed the Nokia name, design, and software from the Finns.
Forbes’ Gordon Kelly was at Slush to take a closer look at the tablet: The N1 makes an impressive – if controversial – entrance that will trigger feelings of déjà vu. It has the same 7.9-inch display size and ‘Retina’ ready 2048 x 1536 pixel display as the iPad mini 2 and 3. It also uses a similar aluminium unibody design – available in ‘Lava Grey’ and ‘Natural Aluminium’ or black – with heavily machined power and volume buttons that also match Apple’s now neglected tablet.
