Sony Xperia Z1-Camera

HTC, Samsung and, of course, Nokia have been Microsoft's primary Windows Phone partners, with the latter being the most prevalent of any out there. Now Sony may enter the fold with at least one of its own devices.

According to The Information, Sony "has considered launching a Windows Phone as soon as mid-2014." Of course, considering is a lot easier than actually launching a device, and we presume plenty of companies have "considered" plans in the past. Still, The Information says it learned its info from someone who was briefed on the device, which suggests the talks are at least advanced, and that a second person was involved in talks between Microsoft and Sony.

The Japanese company reportedly started to gain interest after Microsoft cut licensing fees, The Information said. Windows Phone hasn't been as popular as Android for phone makers, since it's more expensive to use Windows Phone than Android. Similarly, Android has a larger ecosystem of apps, which has been more attractive to consumers than Windows Phone.

In any case, right now this is very much a rumor since Sony has been extremely focused on Android, and the experience it offers across devices, including wearables like the SmartWatch 2 that don't support Windows Phone. Perhaps Sony will get its feet wet this year, though with a mid-2014 launch date, we hope it's with a future version of Windows Phone.

TechnoBuffalo contacted Sony for a comment on the rumor, though a spokesperson was not immediately available.