"Uniquely Nokia" Key To Tablet Plans Says Stephen Elop

Nokia's tablet plans have rumbled along for some time now, with no sign of any hardware – at least that's been revealed to us mere consumers – and it looks like we shouldn't expect an iPad rival any time soon, either. In an interview with YLE, CEO Stephen Elop has reiterated the stance first taken at the Nokia Windows Phone announcement, that the company's engineers are looking at all the possible options from Microsoft's software line-up, along with "other software assets" that likely includes MeeGo.

"We could take advantage of Microsoft technology and software, and build a Windows-oriented tablet, or we could do things with some of the other software assets that we have. Our team right now is assessing what's the right tablet strategy for Nokia" Stephen Elop, CEO, Nokia

However, while there are a few options on the tablet table today, that doesn't mean Nokia is planning to rush into implementing any of them. In fact, Elop says Nokia is particularly cautious about becoming just another iPad wannabe:

"There are now over 200 different tablets on the marketplace, only one of them is doing really well. And, my challenge to the team is I don't wanna be the 201st tablet on the market that you can't tell from all of the others. We have to take a uniquely Nokia prospective and so the teams are working very hard on something that would be differentiating relative to everything else that's going on in the market" Stephen Elop, CEO, Nokia

Asked whether that meant Nokia was "not in a hurry" to get a tablet to market, Elop said that the company is "always in a hurry to do the right things, but we're mostly in a hurry to do the right thing." A Windows 8 Nokia Tablet was rumored as in development back in March, though we wouldn't be surprised if the company had prototypes of all the different possibilities on their workbenches as they attempt to find the best fit.

[via Engadget]