Nokia design head talks Windows 8 tablet

Nokia has confirmed that it is working on a Windows 8 tablet, and has provided new details.

In an interview with Finnish magazine Kauppalehti Optio, as quoted by Reuters, Nokia executive Marko Ahtisaari said, “We are working on it.”

What’s more interesting is his personal detail that one-third of his time at the office is now spent working on the tablet, suggesting it is a major part of the company’s focus right now.

Keep in mind that as any given time, Ahtisaari could be working on a whole slew of handsets, ranging from Windows Phone devices for the US and European markets to feature phones and basic devices for the third world.

So to devote an entire third of his schedule on one product is very significant.

The existence of a Nokia Windows 8 tablet had been previously reported. What Nokia brings to the table is an ingenuity in mobile manufacturing and ergonomics that few have been able to challenge. The company’s strength in hardware design is why it managed to be the runaway leader in smartphones for a sustained period of time.

It was software that put a death knell on the company, with Android and iOS making Nokia’s proprietary Symbian platform seem completely irrelevant.

Windows Phone brought a huge jolt to both Microsoft and Nokia, especially in the US mobile market where there is nowhere to go but up for both companies.