Windows Phone Thoughts: Microsoft Rumored To Announce Flexible Hardware Specs At MIX11

"According to sources familiar with the company's plans, the new hardware specifications will allow device manufacturers such as Nokia to create cheaper Windows Phone devices. The announcement may be made as early as the company's MIX11 conference this week."

Microsoft is rumored to announce flexible hardware specs for their Windows Phone OS at MIX11. Previously, makers of WP7 handsets had to adhere to a strict chassis requirement which meant all phones had virtually identical hardware with only the frame as the differentiator. With Microsoft's recent alliance with Nokia, it was expected a cheaper version of the Windows Phone OS would be needed as Nokia transitions away from Symbian. Hopefully, this potential cheaper version of Windows Phone will look closer to Windows Phone 7 and not the Kin OS.