GLOBAL - Following up on close heels of the recent worldwide launch of the most anticipated S60 fifth edition device - the Sony Ericsson Satio - another Symbian phone from the manufacturer has been spotted in the wild by Phonesdb.

The Swedish-Japanese joint venture has been pro-active in the handset market off late with the launch of Aino and Satio and the recent announcement of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, the first Google Android-based handset from the manufacturer. Considering the recent turn of events, the present leak showing the second Symbian device, codenamed Sony Ericsson Kurara, opens up an interesting turn of events in the handset market.

While full specifications of the Kurara are not yet known, the leaked images show an "HD" logo on the rear panel of the phone, making it only the second Symbian device (Samsung Omnia i8910 HD being the first) to support HD.

Image Courtesy of Phonesdb

Apart from the HD logo, not much is known about this latest Symbian phone from Sony Ericsson. From the leaked images, a 8.1 megapixel camera and a 3.5" AMOLED screen is all that can be speculated. However, going by the specifications of Satio, the Kurara can be expected to feature high-end smartphone specifications. While there have been no rumors on the pricing of this device, it is widely believed to be hitting the stores sometime in the first quarter of 2010.

Most manufacturers, including Sony Ericsson, are now supporting multiple platforms, thereby offering consumers a gamut of options across all platforms. The support for several platforms from the same manufacturer also highlights the insecurity of the manufacturers in betting on one single platform, further intensifying the battle between different mobile platforms today. While the manufacturers and the OS developers are battling it out to capture the market, the consumers are more than happy for having several options to chose from.