Nokia Exploring Tablet Computer With Microsoft

BARCELONA — It appears to be only a matter of time before Nokia and Microsoft get into the tablet computer business, joining Apple, Samsung and others in the hard-fought segment. Stephen Elop, the Nokia chief executive, said in an interview that the Finnish handset maker was looking closely at the possibility of producing a tablet computer with Microsoft.

Mobile World Congress

Dispatches from Barcelona.

“We look very closely at what is coming out of Microsoft in terms of Windows 8,’’ Mr. Elop said at the opening of the Mobile World Congress, the industry’s annual convention. “We are very, very pleased with the consistency of the user experience that is coming from the Windows phone and moving up onto tablets and slates and PCs as Windows 8. So we look at those things and say, boy, if there’s a family opportunity there, that’s something we’ll look at very carefully.’’

Nokia, before it entered its smartphone collaboration with Microsoft, produced an early tablet computer in 2009 called the Nokia Booklet 3G, based on its in-house Symbian operating system, which it is phasing out for Windows.