Purported Windows Phone 7 Device Appears in Leaked Photo

While Microsoft has let the tech press poke around Windows Phone 7, the built-from-the-ground-up OS it announced back in February, we?ve so far heard zilch about the phones that will be running it, save for the fact that a handful of top-tier OEMs will make them. Today, though, a photo of what could be a pioneer WP7 handset from Asus surfaced in Pakistan, an atypical source of leaks.
The phone, which carries Asus? branding on the front side, adheres to Microsoft?s stringent hardware requirements, which includes a capacitive touchscreen and three hardware buttons, including home, search, and backward navigation keys. Although it?s unclear how chunky the phone is, its brushed metal exterior and rounded edges give it a more sophisticated look than the reference (read: not-for-sale) model that made the rounds recently.
Indeed, it?s those rigid hardware requirements that make Windows Phone 7 devices interesting ? and somewhat difficult ? to imagine. Microsoft?s insistence on uniformity in the way these phones are built is unprecedented, and reminds me of the way Google will compel OEMs to design Chrome netbooks a certain way.
Even Google, though, whose fleet of Android devices share certain characteristics, such as a search button, has a more lax attitude about how the Android OS and the phones running it work together. So, it?s interesting to see how Asus (and, soon, other companies) will design a phone that still looks distinct.
Although we?ve known since day one that Asus would be one of the first companies to manufacture a WP7 device, I?m inclined to take a grain of salt with my brushed metal. Pakistan isn?t a common source of leaks, after all, and this wouldn?t this be the first time we saw leaked photos of what turned out to be a mock-up (ahem, would-be iPads!).
Either way, we?ll know in just a couple months: Microsoft has said that a series of WP7 handsets would be announced before the holidays.
(via Slashgear)
Photo credit: Shaista Hussain / Twitter

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