Sony and Microsoft have been fierce rivals in the past and present, especially in the game industry with the PS3 and the Xbox 360 battling it out for the attention of console gamers. But is Sony about to make a device that will use a Microsoft made operating system?
According to Tweakers.net, unnamed but "multiple sources" have told them Sony plans to launch smartphones that will run on Microsoft"s upcoming Windows Phone 8 OS, code named Apollo. Those devices are supposed to be released before the end of 2012. No other details about the smartphones were announced.
Sony would be in a position to pick and choose a new operating system for its smartphones now that its partnership with Ericsson in that space has now come to an end. However, Sony has also been interested in linking its smartphones, tablets and even its game consoles into one environment.
Indeed, Kazuo Hirai, the upcoming President and CEO of Sony, hinted recently that the operating system for its just launched PS Vita game console could be extended to run on both future smartphones and tablets.
On the other hand, Sony also makes Vaio notebooks that run on Microsoft"s Windows 7 so they do have a small partnership already. In any case, a Sony smartphone running on Windows Phone 8, while certainly a possibility, does seem at the moment to be a long shot in terms of actually happening.