Microsoft-branded Windows 8 smartphone is on the way, rumors the market. The move would be along the lines of Microsoft’s Surface launch.
Introducing a Microsoft-branded smartphone could be a way to jumpstart Windows Phone 8 in a crowded mobile OS marketplace, wrote TechRadar, though it wouldn’t necessarily represent a takeover of the hardware business enjoyed by the company’s partners.
“Microsoft diving into this really makes sense,” commented analyst Wayne LamLam, a senior analyst at IHS iSuppli. “We’ve seen Google take an interest in creating Nexus devices. They’re there to create a new example, a new device, and new form factor.”
The Microsoft smartphone isn’t expected in the first round of Windows Phone 8 devices. Instead, there’ll be five phone running the mobile OS at launch, and all are by key Microsoft partners: Nokia Lumia 920, Nokia Lumia 820, HTC Windows Phone 8X, HTC Windows Phone 8S, and Samsung Ativ S.
