Nokia"s Lumia 800 smartphone, with Microsoft"s Windows Phone 7 operating system inside, is scheduled to officially launch in parts of Europe today. But is Nokia prepping for something larger? That"s what the French website MonWindowsphone.com claims in a new report. It says that a French newspaper got Paul Amsellem, the new head of Nokia France, to admit that Nokia is working on a new tablet product that will run Microsoft"s Windows 8 OS.
Other than a possible launch date of June 2012 (which seems much too early to us), no other information about this mysterious Nokia Windows 8 tablet was revealed. Nokia execs have hinted strongly in the past that the company might be interested in expanding beyond the smartphone market for future devices that would run under some kind of operating system from Windows.
The same article quotes Amsellem as saying that Nokia has even more smartphones in the works. He stays of the Lumia 800, "It"s just the equivalent of the BMW 5 Series. We will soon have a full range with a Series 7 and Series 3." That would certainly imply that Nokia has plans for a cheaper and less powerful Windows Phone product along with a higher end hardware device.
Of course a lot hinges on how the Lumia 800 sells in Europe beginning today. If it is successful you can bet that Nokia will expand its Windows Phone line up quickly.