Last week we reported that LG might be the first company to launch a Windows Phone 7 Series phone, sometime before the holidays (vague, I know). It didn't take long for photos and video of the very phone we spoke of to materialize, thanks to Aaron Woodman, Director of Consumer Experiences for Microsoft's mobile division. Woodman appeared on The Engadget Show this weekend and brought the pre-release LG prototype with him.
According to Engadget, the WP7S prototype is "just a hair thicker than an iPhone or Nexus One, there are dedicated hardware camera, volume, and power buttons in addition to the back, home, and search buttons dictated by Windows Phone 7 Series, and we noticed a five megapixel camera with a flash on the back, along with a headphone jack."
If you'll notice in the picture above, there's something about the prototype that doesn't quite match what we would have expected. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? The phone seems to be more aligned with the specs of Chassis 2, due to the full QWERTY sliding keyboard. Here's a recap of what was said about Chassis 1 and 2 by the guys at Microsoft Australia:
"There's going to be one available at launch, which is big touch screen, gigahertz processor, dedicated graphics chip. And only touch, no keyboard entry. Chassis two is going to be slide with a keyboard, so looking more like the Palm Treo, touch screen plus a Qwerty keyboard."
This brings to light an important question. Why would a Chassis 2 device be the first to launch with WP7S, when our Australian friends would have us believe that Chassis 1 would be the only form factor available at launch, with Chassis 2 and 3 unaccounted for in terms of a release time-frame? I can't say that I know what's coming next, but you can be sure I'm very curious.
Hit the link below for video and pictures of the prototype. If you think you know what Microsoft and LG are up to, sound off in the comments!
