Alcatel Windows Phone 7.8 device spotted in the wild

An Alcatel-Lucent Windows Phone running what appears to be version 7.5 of Microsoft's operating system has been spotted in the wild. According to a report over at Hi-Tech.Mail.ru, the device will be loaded with Windows Phone 7.8 and be available by the end of 2012. Alcatel will have likely chosen to support Windows Phone 7.8 to keep costs down on hardware and to sell less advanced hardware in bulk.

The device, likely to be branded under the One Touch umbrella, is expected to be priced at around 7990 rubles (approx. £160 / $256), and specifications are reported to be in with a single-core Qualcomm MSM7227A chip - 1 GHz, 512 MB RAM and 4 GB of internal memory. A 4" display, 1500mAh battery, and a 5MP camera (with VGA FFC) are also included. Dimensions come in at 124.2 x 64.2 x 10.75 mm.

Nokia will also be looking to continue to tackle the low-end market, which the company has done so in the past with positive results, particularly on Windows Phone with the Lumia 610. It'll be interesting to see where the Finnish manufacturer goes next to carry on the low-end trend. But it's always good to see more manufacturers supporting Windows Phone.

Check out a few more shots below. 

Source: Hi-Tech.Mail.ru; thanks, Andrew, for the tip!

Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.