Sony Windows Phone prototype leaked in pics: Early build or clever fake?

Sony’s Xperia S is a very solid looking Android phone, but rumours of the company making Windows Phones just don’t seem to die.

Pictures of what’s being called a new ‘Sony Ericsson Windows Phone’ have surfaced on Nokia WP.net. The images show a phone that’s distinctly Sony Ericsson in design terms along with the three trademark Windows Phone keys.

So is there a Sony Windows Phone in the works and will we see one at Mobile World Congress?

What immediately stands out; is that you can clearly see the Sony Ericsson branding top and centre in both pics.

Sony looks to be wasting no time waiting for regulatory approval shedding the Ericsson portion of the name, with or without regulatory approval. So you’d expect anything that had been R&D’d that’s due for release later this year might have simply been branded ‘Sony’ instead of ‘Sony Ericsson’.

This leads us to think that these aren’t anything new and can be traced back to rumours from last year. Xperia Blog, who has also stumbled across the pics, think so too.

Sony/Sony Ericsson has yet to make a commitment to the Windows Phone platform, remaining a solid player of Team Android for now. But the company hasn’t ruled out making phones for Microsoft’s mobile OS either.

A Sony Windows Phone with an Exmor R sensor-equipped camera would be very tasty indeed.

What are the chances of a PlayStation Certified Windows Phone though? Would Microsoft allow Sony to aggressively open shop on in such a way? Pending emergence of concrete evidence we can only guess at Sony’s Windows Phone intentions.

Source: NokiaWP.net via Esato, Xperia Blog