Nokia Corporation (NOK): Tablet Announced With New Handsets Today?

Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) has been ramping up buzz about its new line of Lumia smartphone handsets that are to run the Windows Phone 8 operating system as the company was slated to unveil at a New York press event Wednesday alongside Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). But there is also some last-minute talk that Nokia may also introduce a new tablet computer that may run wither Windows 8 or RT.

Those in the know had heard several months ago that Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) was working on a tablet, which was the one component of the wireless ecosystem that Nokia hadn’t entered. An official with Nokia admitted in March that a tablet was in the pipeline, but that was before Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) put out news in June that it was creating its own tablet, the Surface.  While it would seem awkward to hear about a Nokia tablet at the same event where direct rival (and partner at the same time) Microsoft will be, it would be an interesting dichotomy of two companies that have been partners now show themselves as rivals in the marketplace, selling essentially the same thing – a tablet that runs Windows.

What has been talked about earnestly with this press event Wednesday morning was the expected unveiling of three new Lumia handsets by Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) that are all expected to run Windows Phone 8. There is no word about any other devices, at least officially. The rumored work on a Nokia tablet has apparently been taking place in California, according to sources, and this new device was supposed to run a processor from QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM).

It’s likely that the Lumia unveiling has already been accounted for in the price of Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) stock to this point, but how investors would react to a Nokia tablet will be something to watch – especially if such an announcement occurs today. An investor who may watch is hedge-fund manager Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies, who had $4.5 million invested in Nokia at the end of June, but had sold off more than half of his holdings during the quarter.