Nokia Tablet "As Early As Fall" Reckons Hopeful Analyst

Nokia's Internet Tablet range died with the introduction of the N900, having failed to set the market alight in any great respect, but at least one analyst reckons the Finnish company is ramping up to take on Apple's iPad.  Rodman Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar – said to be "close to Nokia's technology partners" by TheStreet – is half predicting and half hoping that Nokia jump into the tablet segment again, saying that "this is a new window, and Nokia had better be at the starting gate if and when the product category takes off."

Integral to that is the company's partnership with Intel on the MeeGo platform, announced back at MWC 2010, and tipped as a crossover OS suitable for smartphones, MIDs, tablets and netbooks.  MeeGo takes Intel's Moblin OS and Nokia's Maemo and combines them, with both ARM and x86 chipset support.

Back in February, the Symbian Foundation's CEO Lee Williams confirmed that a Symbian-based tablet was likely to arrive within 1-2 years, though it's unclear whether such a device would have any connection with Nokia themselves.  Even Kumar – for all he's hoping – isn't confident the Finns can manage a cost-competitive device launching within a reasonable timescale: "I'm not holding my breath on this one" he's quoted as saying.