Eurogamer

Microsoft is set to enter the smartphone market with a handset of its own, a new report suggests.

The Windows Phone maker is currently working with Asian component suppliers to test the new smartphone, a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed.

A move into the smartphone hardware market would see Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer again butting heads with Apple.

It follows the launch of Microsoft Surface, the company's range of Windows 8 tablets set to challenge the dominance of Apple's iPad.

Early details of the Microsoft phone handset are hazy but suggest a device with a larger screen than the iPhone 5. Microsoft's model could be as large as five inches - up to an inch bigger than the iPhone 5 and even bigger than the 4.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S3.

"We're quite happy this holiday going to market hard with Nokia, Samsung and HTC," a tight-lipped Ballmer said. "Whether we had a plan to do something different or we didn't have a plan I wouldn't comment in any dimension."

Great, i´ll buy it.

ZunePhone 2 with a vengeance!

Why do companies refuse to build flagship phones with screen sizes that are reasonable?

It's one of the big reasons why I headed back to iPhone with my last upgrade... I have no need or want for a phone larger than 4.3" (the size of my last Android phone).

It's all about marketing with flagship phones RP. MSFT is probably going to take a loss on these phones but it matters little, bc they have to build a top of the line phone to get the word out that MSFT is great name for the smartphone biz.

The iPhone does just fine for itself with a 4" screen.

All I want from a phone is a 4-4.3" screen and top of the line internals. That shouldn't be too much to ask. To get the top of the line internals, no one outside of Apple is making any phones smaller than 4.5".

The Return of the Kin

LTE, lots of RAM, powerful SoCs, they all chew up lots of power. You need a bigger battery to power all that stuff. And the only acceptable way to fit a larger battery inside a phone these days is to hide it behind a bigger screen.

Apple managed to do it so it's definitely possible.

HTC 8 X is being pushed as a flagship Windows 8 phone and it's a 4.3 inch screen. Just sayin'...