Windows Phone 7 To Verizon?Windows Phone 7 To Verizon?

Verizon may be the next major carrier to add devices based on Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 to its lineup of smartphones.

The tech blog Engadget on Sunday published photos of what appears to be an HTC Trophy running Windows Phone 7 and bearing the Verizon logo.

"If you had any remaining doubts whether the HTC Trophy would be playing for Team Red [i.e. Verizon], you can leave them at the door—a tipster just sent us a high-res version of the above image, and says it's running the latest version of Windows Phone 7, complete with copy/paste support," Engadget reported.

Neither Verizon nor Microsoft has confirmed the report. Windows Phone 7 devices are now officially carried in the U.S. by AT&T, T-Mobile, and, most recently, Sprint. Sprint on Thursday began taking pre-orders for the HTC Arrive, its first phone built on Windows Phone 7.

The phone, which runs Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon processor, features a slide-out keyboard and a display that tilts upward for easier viewing. It also comes standard with a 5MP camera and 720p HD camcorder and checks in at 6.5 ounces.

Like all Windows Phone 7 devices, the Arrive also features Microsoft's Live Tiles interface, which pushes real-time updates from e-mails, social networks, and other communications tools to the forefront of the home screen. It also boasts direct integration with Microsoft products such as Office, Zune, and Xbox Live.

MS Office integration, in particular, could be enough to entice business users to kick the tires on the Arrive.

Sprint is taking pre-orders at $199 per unit, based on a two-year contract, and is promising to ship the phones on March 20. Other carriers, including AT&T with its Samsung Focus and LG Quantum, and T-Mobile with the HTC HD7, have already dropped the price of their 2-year-plan Windows Phone 7 smartphones to $99 since introducing the products late last year.