Finally, on Monday Microsoft proclaimed that it has jumped back into the Smartphone market unveiling trendy new handsets from LG, HTC and Samsung that are equipped with large display screens, high speed processor, video recording of HD quality and the most important and vital is Microsoft Mobile OS that is powering it. Redmond based Software Giant Microsoft on Monday launched its series of Smartphones that are being powered by Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 software. But the question is that will this Windows Phone 7 rush bring Microsoft back into the game against the tech giants of industry, Apple and Google.
A pumped and usually entertainingly exciting CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer unveiled these devices in an official event in New York City, AT&T wireless chief Ralph de la Voga was also present at the event. AT&T will get their first breakthrough with the Windows Phone 7 in early November alongwith T-Mobile which will follow it shortly. According to some speculation in the industry, AT&T seems to be losing its grip on the iPhone realm because other carriers are also now gearing up to launch Apple’s super duper hit with their networks as well.
Among the first of the handsets which are released and powered by Windows Phone 7 include a trio of handsets from AT&T. First in line is Samsung’s Focus, equipped with a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor with an AMOLED Display of 4 inch size. The screen and the technology behind display, is similar to all the other Samsung’s Powered Galaxy S Smartphones. The phone has a 5 mega-pixel camera at the back and also carries a front camera as well for video chat. Steve Ballmer promised that Samsungs’ Focus will be the slimmest phone that will be available with Windows Phone 7 having a total thickness of 9.9mm. Focus is likely to arrive on November 8 for a price tag of $199 on a two-year total contract.
Another popular entry is of HTC Surround that will hit the market a few weeks later. Surround is a handset with 3.8 inch AMOLED display, a total of 16 GB of on-board storage and is equipped with a 1 GHz Snapdragon Processor. On the music side, the set is equipped with slide-up SRS Surround sound speaker and a Dolby Mobile Platform. Surround will also be available for a price tag of $199 on a 2 year contract with AT&T.
The third WP7 set will be LG Quantum, which contains almost all the same specification as of Samsung Focus containing a slide out QWERTY keyboard. It has a total of 16 GB internal storage and total DLNA Support for sharing media on social networks. Price tag is once again the same $199 and the set also has a DLNA support for PCs and HDTV’s.
So now moving on to the other carrier T-Mobile, the new arrival is HTC HD7 that will have a 4.3 inch display, a 5-megapixel camera with a dual LED based Flash and a HD video capture quality. HD7 will also be arriving somewhere in November. Pricing details for this particular set are still not shared by T-Mobile.
AT&T and T-Mobile are all geared up for the launch of WP7, but the other wireless carriers including Sprint and Verizon, for the time being, are sidelined and waiting for their turn to jump into Microsoft’s cellphone marathon. Microsoft also claimed that a CDMA version of its latest platform will be ready by the first half of next year in 2011.
Verizon at present is sounding pretty calm about the idea of carrying Windows Phone 7 mobile phones. Lowell McAdams, the chief operating system officer for Verizon told CNET news service that Google’s Android and RIM are on their priority list and for the time being Microsoft Windows Phone 7 is not what the carrier is after. Microsoft’s CEO, Steve Ballmer said during the conference that time is very much close when WP7 powered devices will be all over the globe with more than 60 carriers worldwide.
Well, the obvious failure of Microsoft’s Kin phones launched by Verizon didn’t help the matters go good between Verizon and Microsoft. Moreover, Verizon is also planning to launch a Cupertino based phone, according to the sources in New York Times and Wall Street Journal. But most of the industry analysts are giving their feedback and it seems that Windows Phone 7 operating system looks very impressive.