The purported HTC Tiara Windows 8 smartphone bound for Sprint made headlines on several occasions, but this is the first time that official press images have leaked.

As it turns out, Sprint did not do a good enough job in keeping its PR photos private and the device now made its way to the almighty Internet, where nothing is extinguished or forgotten.

The official image of the upcoming HTC Tiara Windows 8 (WP8) smartphone is out and portrays a device quite similar to the HTC One SV. The specs, meanwhile, seem to put the handset somewhere between the HTC Windows Phone 8S and the HTC Windows Phone 8X.

The HTC Tiara would arrive as the third Windows Phone 8 smartphone from the Taiwanese company and will reportedly sport a 4.3-inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixel resolution) Super LCD2 display. In terms of processing power, however, the device may disappoint with a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.2GHz and 1GB of RAM.

Other specs of the purported HTC Tiara include 8GB of internal memory with no mention of a micro SD card slot for additional storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.6-megapixel front shooter. The spec sheet further lists a 1,800 mAh battery.

The leaked press image comes from TechAloud, while UnwiredView complements the leak with specs reportedly obtained through an internal memo. According to UnwiredView, the HTC Tiara will be among the first handsets to run Windows Phone 8 GDR2, i.e. the second update since the platform made its debut last fall.

"It will not, however, adopt the same design language as the newly-revealed, Jelly Bean-powered HTC One," the publication further notes.

Neither report makes any mention of an actual release date, but the HTC Tiara Windows Phone 8 smartphone is expected to launch in less than a month on Sprint.

Nokia so far leads the race when it comes to Windows Phone 8 smartphones and managed to boost the platform a bit in terms of market share, but HTC apparently wants some action as well.

The HTC Tiara Windows Phone 8 smartphone is expected to launch in less than a month on Sprint as an affordable smartphone, with a price tag of around $100. Neither Sprint nor HTC made any official announcements so far, but the leaked press render suggests an imminent launch.