Nokia recently heat up the smartphone race by announcing its new Windows 8 smartphones, Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 on Wednesday.

Now, reports say that Nokia will be making a Windows 8 tablet.

According to Cio.com.au, in a cryptic statement during the launch of Nokia Windows Phone 8 smartphones this week, Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop might have tipped the company's hand about developing tablets.

Here's the quote as reported by Fast Company: "We have not announced any plans to introduce a tablet product on Windows or any other platform. But what is quite clear is that the digital experience that people expect today is one that spans multiple different environments: the phone, the tablet, the PC... Certainly, with Nokia's strength in mobility, this is an area we're looking at very closely, and hope to be able to talk more broadly soon about what our perspective is on how to approach that opportunity. It's a real opportunity."

Cio.com.au reported that it was a "non-denial confirmation." It he wanted to deny, he would of said "We're not making a tablet." Instead, he said something different.

ABC News reported something similar, also saying that the CEO hinted at an upcoming tablet. The report said that Elop stressed that the company's partnership with Microsoft and its commitment to making Windows phones could make this an even better time to get into the computing game for the phone maker.

"Microsoft is introducing Windows 8 as well for PCs and tablets in the months ahead; same user experience, except taken to a larger screen size, one big family, and therefore many people around the world will gain experience with what we're doing," Elop said. "So, it's a very, very exciting time for us."

ABC News reported that Nokia released a netbook in 2009 called the Booklet 3G.

On the other hand, HTC also plans to feature Windows 8 phones.

"Unable to compete with Samsung and Apple on Android, HTC now looks to Windows Phone 8 to change its fortunes. According to HTC president of sales and marketing Jason Mackenzie - their plan is 'to go big on Windows 8,'" reported UnWiredView.com.

"When asked about Nokia's special relationship with Microsoft, Mackenzie says that HTC is not afraid, because they have better carrier relations. During the September 5th announcement, Nokia failed to mention even 1 carrier partner who will be pushing Lumia 920 or 820. HTC, on the other hand, has concrete carrier support in every region around the world, including several carriers in the United States. And firm commitments to sell their Windows Phones."

HTC will still face major competition with Nokia on the Windows 8 platform. It might be a little too late.

According to the Latinos Post, Microsoft is expected to launch its new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8 on October 29^th. In addition to Nokia, Windows Phone 8 is expected to be supported by HTC and Samsung. Microsoft also says it will release Windows 8, the desktop and tablet version of the operating system, on October 25^th.