Nokia has announced its first ever Android tablet, the Nokia N1. It packs a 7.9-inch display, Intel processor and the latest Android operating system, Android 5.0 Lollipop.
The Nokia N1 is 6.9mm thin with a design that looks like it's been influenced by the iPad Mini. It sports a one-piece aluminium design with a soft finish and will be available in Lava Grey and Natural Aluminium colours.
The design of the tablet isn't terribly innovative but Nokia is hoping its Z Launcher will help make the N1 stand out from the crowd.
The idea behind the Z Launcher is that users can draw a letter or phrase on the N1's touchscreen, and the Z Launcher will bring up the appropriate files, media or apps. Over time the Z Launcher will apparently learn your most used applications and predict what apps you'll want to use based on time of day and location.
The Nokia N1 is set to launch at the beginning of 2015 for around $249 (£159) and at the moment will only be available in China, though Nokia has said that it will expand sales to other markets later on.
Is Nokia once again late to the punch?
The fact that Nokia has announced the N1 tablet four years after Apple effectively created the tablet market with the launch of the iPad brings back unfortunate memories of Nokia's N97 smartphone.
Nokia had been busy working on its first smartphone since its announcement in December 2008. When the handset finally released in June 2009, what should have felt like a cutting edge device already felt dated, with its pull out Qwerty keyboard and under-supported Symbian OS.
This was mainly due to Apple taking the world by storm with its first ever smartphone, the iPhone, which launched to an enthusiastic reception in 2007 with a full touch screen and interface, as well as fantastic app support.
We might have thought that Nokia would have learned its lesson by allowing Apple to beat it to the punch with smartphones, but it looks like it has done it once again by being four years late to the tablet party.
Nokia's decision to wait until now to launch an Android tablet is a puzzling one. Not only has Apple had four years to establish the iPad as the defacto tablet of choice for many people, but the Android tablet market has rapidly expanded and fragmented.
It's now more difficult than ever for an Android tablet to stand out from the crowd thanks to the sheer number of devices that are available. Nokia has its work cut out to make an impact, but with an Apple-inspired design and decent — but not mind blowing – specs, Nokia is facing an uphill battle.
The fact that it is launching only in China could also count against it, with the Chinese market saturated with lower priced Android tablets from companies whose name carries more weight with Chinese consumers.
Nokia might have been better off creating another Windows tablet (its first Windows tablet, the Nokia Lumia 2520 was launched last year). The market might not be as big, but that means there's not as much competition, giving Nokia a better chance to establish its tablet. Perhaps Microsoft's recent decision to drop the Nokia branding from its smartphones has affected that decision.
We'll be interested in giving the Nokia N1 a spin when we get our hands on it, but at the moment it looks like Nokia has once again missed the boat.
0 comments :
Post a Comment