Nokia, by its own admission, is "up to something" and the teaser image of that something appears to be a set-top box or a hub for smart homes.
Now that Nokia is finally experiencing a bit of growth, year over year, the former handset manufacturer is perusing several new streams of revenue. That latest avenue appears to be an entry into the increasingly crowded market for hardware media players.
Nokia just tweeted an image of a black box that has rounded corners and the tech company's beloved logo etched on the top. The accompanying text includes the hashtag, "#thinkingahead," a mantra that resonates with the message delivered to investors and analysts by Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri.
The image of the little black box comes just days after Nokia tweeted what appears to be a close-up of the incoming hardware. On Nov. 17, Nokia tweeted an image of its logo engraved on a charcoal slab and announced it with the following text:
"We at Nokia love the feeling of a fresh start. Can't wait for what's next! #thinkingahead," stated Nokia on Twitter.
More will be revealed about the little black box on Nov. 18, going by the date stamped onto the teaser image.
On Nov. 14, a day before the first teaser image was posted, Suri told the attendees at a meeting of analysts in London that Nokia isn't entirely done with hardware. Suri said Nokia is exploring the possibility of licensing its brand to hardware manufacturers.
Microsoft has the right to use Nokia's brand on its phones for over nine years at this point, but the Redmond, Wash., company recently decided to use its own name instead of that of the former handset maker. After clearing the pipeline of in-development Lumia products, Microsoft used its own name in place of Nokia's for its latest smartphone.
"The Nokia brand is still extremely powerful and we see considerable interest in licensing. We will pursue it... in a thoughtful and considered way," said Suri.
Suri told analysts there are no imminent deals to license its brand, which suggests the black box the company is teasing is a product it at least had a hand in developing.
While it bears a form factor similar to that of Amazon's Fire TV and Google's Nexus Player, Suri revealed his company's aspirations as fostering development in the rising sector of the Internet of Things (IoT). However, Suri indicated his company's venture into the IoT has been more enterprise-oriented, including analytics and machine-to-machine connectivity platforms.
