Nokia Sabre Windows Phone looks sharp in leaked snap

A photo that purportedly shows one of Nokia's upcoming Windows Phone blowers has popped up online, as well as a few tentative specs for the make-or-break mobile.

That phone in the blurry photo on the right is the Sabre, according to Pocketnow. Running Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system, the site's sources reckon it's packing a powerful 1.4GHz processor with a hefty 1GB of RAM -- this Sabre is likely to leave you thoroughly rattled.

Unlike just about every other mobile being crafted right now, the Sabre's not supposed to have a very big screen. This is a 3.5-inch job -- that's the same size as the iPhone 4S -- but unlike Apple's effort it's apparently going to have a 480x800-pixel resolution, which is less impressive than the iPhone's retina display.

There's a 5-megapixel camera reportedly running riot around the rear, and while that's not a particularly high resolution for a phone camera in this day and age, it does give us hope that the Sabre could be on the more affordable end of the smart-phone scale. Pocketnow says it's heard the price is going to be around €300-350, which is about £260-£300 in Her Maj's coin.

We're expecting to see Nokia's Windows Phone offerings, including the Nokia Sea Ray, popping up next week. The new phones are hugely important for both Nokia and Microsoft -- Nokia desperately needs a popular new gadget, while Microsoft needs a major manufacturer using its operating system to push Windows Phone into the mainstream.

Nokia has traditionally made great hardware, but past efforts prove it's best off leaving the software side of things to someone who knows what they're doing. With Windows Phone running under the bonnet, our hopes are high for Nokia's new phones.

Keep it CNET UK next week for all the latest, and in the meantime let us know what you think in the comments below, or on our Facebook wall.

Photo credit: Pocketnow