Lenovo is set to release its first Windows smartphone this summer, Microsoft has confirmed.
Microsoft announced the Chinese manufacturer’s support at recent conference in China. The new smartphone will be launched in China in the middle of the year, though there’s no extra information on specs at present (the device pictured above is actually an old Lenovo tablet).
It remains to be seen whether this device will be a Windows Phone 8 handset or a Windows 10 smartphone. The precise wording used in the presentation material was “Windows Phone” (with a capital P), which would suggest the former.
However, as The Verge points out, launching such a device right in the midst of Microsoft’s big cross-platform Windows 10 push would be confusing to say the least.
Sure enough, Microsoft’s official blog post on the matter talks of Lenovo’s involvement in relation to Windows 10, and calls its new handsets “Windows phones” (no capitalisation on the P).
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Of course, Microsoft also reiterates in this blog post that a number of Windows Phone 8.1 devices will be upgradable to Windows 10, so there’s a chance that both of these scenarios are true – that the new Lenovo phone will launch with Windows Phone 8.1, with a later upgrade to Windows 10.
Another major Chinese manufacturer mentioned here is Xiaomi, which will allow a select group of Xiaomi Mi4 users (the company’s Android-powered flagship phone) to download and test a version of the Windows 10 Technical Preview on their phones.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
