A Nokia Lumia 1020 Smartphone Is Displayed During The 2014 Computex Exhibition
IN PHOTO: A Nokia Lumia 1020 smartphone is displayed during the 2014 Computex exhibition at the TWTC Nangang exhibition hall in Taipei June 3, 2014. Computex, the world's second largest computer show, runs from June 3 to 7. [Representational Image] REUTERS/Pichi Chuang

Nokia is likely to announce its first product for the Virtual Reality (VR) segment at an event scheduled to be held next week in Los Angeles. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the rumored VR product will come from Nokia Technologies, the division that came up with the Finnish company’s N1 tablet.

According to a report on Re/Code, this is one of the most significant consumer hardware launch from Nokia since 2013, the year when the company sold the mobile phone business to Microsoft. With this move, Nokia hopes to reestablish itself as a serious player in the consumer electronic segment.

Nokia is back to the hardware through the N1 tablet, a device that is manufactured, distributed and sold by Foxconn. The company that once used to be a dominant player in mobile business is working towards finding the right hardware partner before making a comeback into the smartphone business by licensing its brand and technology, which can happen only after Q4 2016, reports Fierce Wireless.

Nokia, which holds more than 10,000 patents for mobile phone technologies has already ventured into handset technologies since it signed the Microsoft deal. The Z Launcher app on the Google Play app store, is one of the company’s current offerings, which allows its users to scribble few letters to find the content quickly. The N1 too includes the Z Launcher.

Other companies that are exploring the virtual reality segment include Microsoft, Sony, Samsung, HTC and Facebook. HTC had partnered with Valve to launch the Vive VR headset towards the end of this year and in 2016, Facebook's Oculus and Sony are likely to launch their own virtual reality headsets. Meanwhile, Samsung has already entered the VR segment with its Gear VR headset, according to the Fierce Wireless report.

Recently, Nokia had announced that it is looking for a partner that could take responsibility for all of the manufacturing, sales, marketing, and customer support for the mobile business. The company explained that the partner is required to do all “heavy lifting” and should work closely with Nokia for delivering a product, reports NDTV Gadgets.

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