Microsoft Working On Surface-Branded First-Party Smartphone

Remember back in June, when Microsoft showed us the Surface tablet, a first-party Windows 8 tablet they were working on? Remember how a lot of third-party manufacturers who had supported the Windows platform for years were really mad, because Microsoft was cutting into their business by making their own hardware now?
Well prepare for a similar backlash of perhaps far greater magnitude, because it looks like Microsoft might also be working on first-party Windows Phone 8 hardware. Yep, a Microsoft smartphone.

According to an exclusive report by BGR, they have an anonymous source telling them the hardware is in the late stages of development, and that the device will be a high-end flagship Windows 8 Phone, aimed firmly at other top of the line phones like the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III.
They also report that the phone will bear the Surface branding as well, which makes sense given how closely related the device will likely be to the existing Surface tablet. In what might be good news for other Windows smartphone makers, BGR’s source says that the first-party offering probably won’t be part of the initial wave of Window Phone 8 devices this holiday season. Instead, we can expect to see it sometime in the first half of next year.

OEM backlash aside, the current Surface tablet looks quite nice, and it will be interesting to see what Microsoft can pull of in the smartphone arena. They’ve made some smart design choices with the Surface tablet, and the build quality appears to be rock solid, so if all of that carries over to the Surface Phone, Microsoft could really knock it out of the park. Of course, when competing for Windows Phone 8 users, they’ll have to beat the Lumia 920, which won’t be an easy task.