Seattle: Microsoft Corp`s hardware chief gave employees a sneak peek at a `selfie` phone featuring a 5 megapixel forward-facing camera at an internal meeting this week, a source at the company said on Tuesday.
Stephen Elop, the former Nokia CEO who now runs Microsoft`s devices business, showed off the phone in front of thousands at the company`s annual employee meeting in Seattle on Monday.
The 4.7 inch (11.9 cm) screen `selfie` phone, plus another high-end Windows Phone, are expected to launch soon, according to tech news site The Verge, which first reported the news.
The 5 megapixel camera on the front of the device is much more powerful than Apple Inc`s iPhone 5, with a 1.2 megapixel front camera, and the Microsoft phone`s screen is larger, making it better-suited for users who want to take pictures of themselves.
Microsoft is jumping on the selfie bandwagon after rival Samsung launched the Galaxy K Zoom earlier this year.
The `selfie` craze, or taking a picture of yourself and friends, hit its peak earlier this year when Ellen DeGeneres posted a shot of Hollywood luminaries at the Academy Awards which became the most popular message ever on Twitter. Oxford Dictionaries named `selfie` its word of the year in 2013.