Nokia to launch tablets, hybrid smartphones to increase brand's market value

Nokia in an effort to regain brand's market value amid increasing competition has announced to launch a range of tablets and "hybrid" smart mobile devices.

The Finnish telecom giant's outgoing Chairman Jorma Ollila promised the launch of new products ahead of a meeting on Thursday with shareholders who are increasingly losing patience with the company's recovery efforts, media reports said

The company, however, has not provided any details on when the devices would be launched.
 
According to reports, Ollila said Nokia had been too slow at the start of the smartphone revolution, when phones started to become Internet connected.

However, he said that the combination of new products and Nokia services would "make a difference".

"Tablets are an important one, so that is being looked into, and there will be different hybrids, different form factors in the future," he said.

Nokia is widely expected to unveil its first tablet computer later this year when Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system becomes available.

The company  got a taste of tougher-than-expected competition as it posted a net loss of Euro 929 million ($1.2 billion) in the first quarter of 2012, as sales plummeted, including for smartphones.