Nokia's Back In the Tablet Business, With the Android Lollipop-Based N1

Esra Erimez writes It's been a little over a year since the announcement of Microsoft Corp.'s acquisition of Finnish tech veteran Nokia Oyj.'s Devices unit. A year later Chinese leaks site SINA Tech says Nokia is back and ready to compete against its former unit, suggesting it will launch in China on Jan. 7. As one commenter on the Daily Tech story points out (as does this ExtremeTech article from last month), the not-yet-launched N1, with its "one piece aluminum body, 7.9", 2048*1536, [and] 3:4 aspect ratio" looks an awful lot like the iPad mini, but costs quite a bit less.

Comments

Not that much less

[pushing-robot]

The base iPad Mini 2 lists at $299 and was as low as $229 during recent sales; the N1 is launching at $249.

Re:Not that much less

[stephanruby]

The base iPad Mini 2 lists at $299 and was as low as $229 during recent sales; the N1 is launching at $249.

That's probably why the author of the article talked about the base iPad Mini 3, not the iPad Mini 2.

The new Nokia N1 tablet, apparently. At just $250 with 32GB of storage — as opposed to the iPad Mini 3’s base price of $400 for the 16GB model — the Nokia N1 is definitely priced to sell.

And yes, from Apple's own comparison page, there doesn't seem to be any difference between the iPad Mini 2 and the iPad Mini 3. But to be fair to Nokia, its specs are superior to the iPad Mini 2 and 3.

And also, the Android tablets are the ones that initially embraced the 7 inch to 8 inch sizes, so one could say that Apple is the one that cloned those tablets from Asus, Samsung, HTC, and LG. But then again, a specs side-by-side comparison of Nokia's new tablet wouldn't look as good against the newer Android tablets made other manufacturers. Not to mention, the word "iPad" still has the most mind share, where it comes to people talking about tablets in general.

Re:Not that much less

[drinkypoo]

When you're making a consumer decision, do you ask yourself, "what do the vast majority of people do?"

Of course I do, and furthermore, the more important the decision is, the more likely I am to follow the herd. If I'm buying a car, for example, I want to know that I'll be able to get parts for it. If it's used and cheap then I can afford some expensive parts, no big deal. If I'm buying a new car, I want something good yes, but also something everyone else is buying so that I know that parts availability will be high, and parts cost will be low.

Of course, the mast majority of people who buy mobile devices buy Android devices, not iOS ones, so the herd is still no argument for Apple.

Re:Whoa! No Windows RT?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is the part of Nokia that was not acquired by Microsoft.

Looks an awful lot like the iPad mini

[ArcadeMan]

Except it doesn't run iOS, which means it's not an iPad mini.

Someone who wants for a Playstation 4 for Christmas doesn't want an Xbox One.

Re:Looks an awful lot like the iPad mini

[stephanruby]

Except it doesn't run iOS, which means it's not an iPad mini. Someone who wants for a Playstation 4 for Christmas doesn't want an Xbox One.

Yes, but Christmas shopping implies that someone else is going to make that purchase for you, and iPad Minis are vastly overpriced.

If you were my relative, this is the tablet I'd get you. It's far cheaper than the iPad Mini. Its screen is almost one inch bigger than the iPad Mini. And its battery lasts a hell of a lot longer too.

Re:Looks an awful lot like the iPad mini

[danbob999]

I have never seen someone replace his tablet because it is made in plastic instead of aluminium. People replace their phone/tablet beacause it is too slow/old or because the display is broken. Aluminium frames do not protect the display any better.

It's about Intel not Nokia

[jphamlore]

What has flown over everyone's head, and it's really disheartening to see this, is this tablet product is likely much more about Intel than Nokia. Intel wants to keep some presence in tablets while it transitions from 22nm to 14nm at which point its products would be much more competitive. Furthermore Intel does not currently even fab its own wireless modems. Fortunately a tablet does not even need an LTE modem, has larger room for batteries, and fortunately Google has recently released Android 5.0 Lollipop with 64-bit support, great for the Atom Intel is using as a transitional product.

Will it run

[ChunderDownunder]

Maemo?

Cool, but not as cool as the N9 series...

[master_p]

As a user of several devices, I can tell you that the N900 was the only device that actually felt like a pocket computer.

For us computer geeks, the concept of N900 was the ideal device: quite open, based on Linux, accessible from the command line, with a nice keyboard you could use to program for, etc.

There are millions like me who are waiting for the successor of N900. It is a huge lost opportunity for Nokia. Bringing out tablets with Android is cool, but what they did with N900 was way cooler...

Re:Cool, but not as cool as the N9 series...

[Ogi_UnixNut]

I feel the same way, which is why I'm looking at the Neo900 project with hope. The way things are going they might actually pull it off, and I will have my n900 replacement.

No modern phone, even with a bluetooth keyboard, comes close to what the n900 could do, and how easy it was to modify, tweak and bend to your will, I miss it :-(