Nokia to launch Windows 8 tablet later this year, says report

From CNET News.com: Nokia could hit the Windows 8 tablet market later this year with its own 10-inch device.

Citing "sources at upstream component suppliers," DigiTimes says that Nokia will likely debut a dual-core Windows 8 tablet in this year's fourth quarter at the earliest. Microsoft hasn't yet revealed a launch date for Windows 8. But the new OS is expected to appear before year's end, either just before or early in the fourth quarter, according to most predictions.

Nokia will outsource the manufacturing of its Windows 8 tablet to Taiwan-based Compal Electronics with initial orders totaling at least 200,000 units, the sources said.

This isn't the first sign that the Finnish mobile phone maker plans to enter the Windows 8 tablet market. A Nokia executive said last November that the company is looking to add a Windows 8 tablet to its product line this coming June.

Nokia officials refused to confirm or deny the information at the time. The company had nothing to add in response to CNET's request for comment today. But given Nokia's partnership with Microsoft and its slowly growing fleet of Windows Phone Lumia handsets, a Nokia Windows 8 tablet would be a natural evolution.

Other tablet vendors have revealed plans to jump on the Windows 8 bandwagon.

Dell CEO Michael Dell told Bloomberg last week that the company aims to unveil a business-based tablet on the same day that Windows 8 debuts. HP is reportedly working on its own Windows 8 tablets for both Intel and ARM-based devices, sources recently told CNET.

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