Add Nokia as the latest hardware manufacturer to give strong hints that Windows 8 tablets are in its future.  While the company has been coy regarding the issue and has not definitively announced a specific product, recent conversation with C level executives amount to an admission of intent for Win 8 tablets.  During the Mobile World Congress, CEO Stephen Elop was asked about the issue.

“We look very closely at what is coming out of Microsoft in terms of Windows 8,’’ Elop said. “We are very, very pleased with the consistency of the user experience that is coming from the Windows phone and moving up onto tablets and slates and PCs as Windows 8. So we look at those things and say, boy, if there’s a family opportunity there, that’s something we’ll look at very carefully.’’

Add this to the past comments of Nokia General Manager, Paul Amsellam who said in a story in French newspaper Les Echos:  "In June 2012, we will have a tablet that runs on Windows 8” Amsellem said in the Les Echos story.   So it appears Nokia's partnership with Microsoft will transcend just phones and include tablets as well.   Nokia is notable for having so far not participated in the tablet frenzy that has swept the tech world over the past 2-3 years.   The company has not released a tablet on the Android platform, unlike many of its phone competitors.   Jumping on the Windows 8 tablet hardware bandwagon should lead to some interesting designs.

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