Sprint has announced the HTC Arrive, the first Windows Phone 7 smartphone to use CDMA. Windows Phone 7 is already present on GSM-based networks such as AT&T.
Sprint has
introduced its first-ever Windows Phone 7 smartphone, the HTC Arrive. The
device includes a sliding QWERTY keyboard and tilt-up display, along with the
inevitable handful of carrier-specific applications.
More importantly for
Microsoft's aspirations in the smartphone space, the HTC Arrive is the first
device to appear on a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) carrier, as opposed
to GSM-based ones such as AT&T and T-Mobile.
As with
Windows Phone 7 devices on other carriers, the HTC Arrive follows Microsoft's
stringently enforced minimum hardware requirements, including a 5-megapixel
camera and 1GHz Snapdragon processor. It features a 3.6-inch capacitive touch-screen
display (with 800 by 480 resolution), 16GB of internal memory, and advertised talk
time of up to 6 hours.
Sprint will
make the HTC Arrive available March 20, for $199 with a two-year contract.
Windows Phone
7 appeared first on GSM-based networks such as AT&T and T-Mobile, with
Microsoft predicting the software's later availability on CDMA networks such as
Verizon and Sprint.
"In developing Windows Phone 7, we are placing high-quality
customer experiences above all else," a Microsoft spokesperson wrote in a
September e-mail to eWEEK, weeks before the first Windows Phone 7 devices
launched in the United States. "In keeping with this goal, Microsoft chose to
focus on delivering a great GSM version to the world first, and then a great
CDMA version in the first half of 2011."
For Microsoft,
Windows Phone 7's spread to CDMA will open a new competitive front in what
promises to be a protracted competition with Google Android, the Apple iPhone
and other rivals. Verizon, also a CDMA carrier, will likely follow Sprint in
short order.
As opposed to
Android devices or the iPhone, whose user interfaces center on grid-like
screens of individual applications, Windows Phone 7 consolidates Web content
and applications into six subject-specific Hubs such as "People" and "Games."
Microsoft hopes the uniqueness of that user interface, combined with a growing
ecosystem of third-party applications, will allow it to reverse its declining
share in the smartphone market.
At February's
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7
software updates for the second half of 2011, including multitasking, Twitter
integration with the "People" Hub, and Office document and storage via Windows
Live Skydrive. Those will follow an update, scheduled for sometime in the first
two weeks of March, which will add a cut-and-paste feature and faster application
loading.
In the
meantime, however, Microsoft
is still reeling from the fallout of its first update, meant to smooth the
way for future updates, which reportedly stalled or "bricked" some 10 percent
of users' devices.
Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Email
Print
