LG Miracle Windows Phone Revealed (Image)
LG is preparing a mid-range Windows Phone codenamed LG Miracle — it's actually the same handset we saw in the wild back in December; at the time we speculated that it was another rumored WP7 known as the Fantasy.
Context & Ripple Effects
The arc here starts with Nokia's Windows Phone 7 concept reveal in February 2011, which framed the platform's future around one flagship partner. This leak fills in the other end of the lineup: an image of a mid-range LG handset, codenamed Miracle, that Pocketnow identifies as the same device spotted in the wild in December — at the time speculated to be another rumored WP7 called the Fantasy.
Eight outlets including CNET, BGR and Phone Arena ran the story the same day, which says less about the hardware itself than about how hungry coverage of the platform was for any non-Nokia OEM signal. LG's own recent smartphone record in this corpus is Android-first — the Optimus 2X launched as the first dual-core phone in December 2010 — so a mid-range Windows Phone marks a second front for the company.
First-order effects
- LG gains a mid-range Windows Phone SKU positioned below the flagship tier Nokia's 2011 concept set expectations for, while Microsoft gets a second major OEM carrying the platform into cheaper contract bands.
Second-order effects
- Carriers shopping the Windows Phone portfolio get a lower-priced hardware option alongside Nokia's premium push, forcing the platform's pricing ladder to widen rather than rest on a single partner's devices.
Third-order effects
- If mid-range OEMs keep feeding the pipeline through leaks, device identities get settled publicly before launch — the Fantasy-to-Miracle reidentification shows rumors, not announcements, doing the naming work for Windows Phone's expanding roster.
The trend: Windows Phone's OEM base is broadening beyond Nokia, with mid-range hardware leaks shaping market expectations ahead of any official launch.