Shown off in a leaked image of what appears to be final hardware, the existence of the Nokia Reader was revealed by Evan Blass on Twitter today. Blass, known by his Twitter handle evleaks, has a very good track record for leaking details of new products and unearthing news on devices consigned to the past.
Unfortunately, little is known about what hardware Reader had or what it was supposed to do. Blass describes it only as “The Nokia Reader, circa 2013.” The images show a display surrounded by sizeable bezels. The Nokia logo is inset into the bottom bezel in an interesting and unique design.
The name “Nokia Reader” is clearly visible on the back of the device which appears to be finished in a dotted textured material. The display bulges at the bottom, perhaps to make it easier to hold in the hand for long reading sessions.
What appears to be a 3.5mm headphone jack and speaker grille can be seen on the base. It’s unclear whether the device is made of metal or plastic but a brushed effect can be clearly seen.
As Neowin notes, Reader uses a very different design to any of Nokia’s other products in 2013. The materials are nothing like the polycarbonate plastics of its Lumia Windows Phones and the square corners that characterized Nokia’s design that year are nowhere to be seen. Instead, the emphasis is on clear curves and bulges, drawing on elements of 2009’s N900 handset.
With no word from Blass on where the images and date originate, the device remains shrouded in mystery for now. It’s certainly possible that Nokia was building an e-reader in 2013 but with the design so different to any of its other contemporary products it’s unclear whether it would ever have made it to sale.
In any case, Microsoft seems to have killed the product for good, along with the Moonraker smartwatch that was also recently unearthed. Nokia’s name is expected to return to devices next year with a new range of Android smartphones to follow the N1 tablet.
