Report: Lenovo’s first Windows Phone 8.1 device could be out by ‘early summer’

To date, Lenovo has only relied on Google's Android OS, when it comes to smartphones and tablets. But the ambitious company, Lenovo Group, is planning to release a brand new phone in April running on Windows Phone 8.1, sources close to Russian blog site revealed on Friday.

Lenovo's first Windows Phone 8.1 device, basically a smartphone, could be announced in April, followed by retail release by "early summer". Well it looks like Lenovo is almost ready to adopt Microsoft's Windows phone OS with a bang.

Rumor has it that Lenovo's fist-generation Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone is expected to be on the lines of Nokia Lumia 630, a forthcoming phone scheduled to launch in April. It won't be a high-end handset by all means, claims WP7forum.ru. The purported phone will be equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 or 600 processor and a 4.5 or 5-inch display.

That being said, the device might get announced for Russian market in the first phase, and will be priced 15,000 rubles or Rs 25,000. It should be noted that due to higher taxes, Russian smartphones tend to be more expensive than they are in other countries. So, if Lenovo's Windows Phone 8.1-powered handset ever comes to India, it won't be priced on a higher side.

Until now, Windows Phone 8 mobile OS has seen low adoption amongst handset manufacturers. A handful of manufacturers are producing phones powered by Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 OS. Nokia, Samsung, HTC and Huawei have announced handsets based on Windows platform. Out of four, Nokia has shown its full support to Windows Phone platform. While the other handset manufacturers haven't shown much interest, as most of them have been faithful to Google's Android OS.

At this year's MWC 2014, Microsoft announced that Lenovo, Gionee, JSR Technology, Longcheer, ZTE, Kabonn, Xolo, Lava, LG, and Foxconn have been added to the Windows Phone hardware partners list.

The Windows Phone 8.1 platforms will support Qualcomm's Snapdragon 200, 400, and 400 LTE chips, and will also support dual SIM as well. Microsoft says the Windows Phone 8.1 will be available later this spring for all existing Windows Phone 8 hardware.

Stay tuned to GizBot for more updates!