Rumor Mill: A Microsoft-Branded Windows Phone 8 Handset in 2013

Redmond-based software giant Microsoft is once again rumored to plan the release of its own Windows Phone 8 device, just as it did with the Surface Windows 8-based tablet PC.

We have already heard rumors on a possible landing of a Microsoft-branded Windows Phone handset but, with no confirmation on the matter, we believed it all to be only a supposition.

New reports on the matter, however, suggest that the company has been quietly working on its own Windows Phone 8 smartphone for the past four months or so, and that it plans on making it official in the first half of the next year.

Nothing has been formally confirmed on this either, and there is a chance that it won’t pan out, but this would not be the first time when Microsoft brings its own hardware to the phone market.

Back in 2010, the company announced and released two KIN handsets, both powered by an early version of Windows Phone, but doomed for a short life, due to lack of appealing features.

The new device, however, would be powered by Windows Phone 8, the next-generation mobile operating system from the company, and might also sport a host of additional capabilities.

Provided that Microsoft is indeed set to bring such a smartphone to shelves, it will certainly design it in a manner similar to the Surface tablet, so as to turn it into the hallmark of Windows Phone 8.

Apparently, the company has already selected an assembly partner for the upcoming device, and should put all things in order for a first half of 2013 launch.

Windows Phone 8 devices have already been officially introduced, and some of them look very appealing, yet it seems that Microsoft might have the feeling that more can be done, the same as it did in the Windows 8 tablet PC area.

Provided that the rumor on this Microsoft-branded Windows Phone 8 handsets will pan out, we should be able to learn more on the matter in the coming months, though an official confirmation won’t come until next year.