Microsoft trials its own mobile handset
02 Nov 2012
Testing phone that is larger than an iPhone 5
Could Microsoft be about to develop an in-house mobile phone? Reports suggest that could be the case.
It would be a surprise, especially as Microsoft has a vested interest in Nokia and works with a number of other hardware makers to promote the Windows Phone platform. We presumed Microsoft would simply concentrate on the software side. Not so.
According to the Wall Street Journal, some of the firm's part suppliers are saying that Microsoft is 'experimenting' with a smartphone design of its own. The handset is said to be between four and five inches, sitting between the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Note II and as far as we know, is a working model. That's the good bit.
On the downside, those same sources are yet to be convinced about the phone going into wider production and Microsoft is refusing to comment either way. So until we see this phone in the wild, it is still firmly speculation.
But with Microsoft developing a tablet in the form of the Microsoft Surface, the idea of its own phone isn't really too far-fetched. How that would play out with the current hardware partners isn't clear. We suspect it wouldn't be wildly welcomed, especially over in Finland. Expect this one to run and run.
Sources: WSJ and Engadget