By Stephen Schenck

Take a look at all the Windows Phone 8 hardware we’ve seen, both officially and through leaked images, and you’ll notice a trend: the micro USB port is dead center on the phone’s bottom edge. A new rumor suggests that this isn’t an accident, and may be the result of Microsoft desiring its platform to have iPhone-like ease in connection to dock accessories.

You can see a notch for what appears to be the USB port cut out of the front-on render of the HTC Accord we got to see today. Add that to the leaked image supposed to be the Nokia 820, as well as Samsung’s ATIV S, and there’s the start of a pattern here.

Even though manufacturers will release differently-sized WP8 handsets, a properly-designed dock should still be able to connect with most so long as that USB port stays down on the bottom edge. If this is true, it could be a big deal for Microsoft, and really encourage accessory manufacturers to start preparing gear for WP8 phones.

Source: WPCentral