Details on an HTC smartphone running Microsoft’s soon-to-launch Windows Phone 7 operating system appear to have been leaked. Screen grabs showing the device, called the HTC Mozart, were posted by Engadget Oct. 4, via an internal inventory system from U.K.-based retailer Phones 4U. T The images, presumably from internal company materials, show the device to be arriving in October.
While Microsoft has confirmed that Europe will see Windows Phone 7 handsets go on sale in October, the devices aren’t expected to launch in the United States until November. Microsoft is expected to launch Windows Phone 7 Oct. 11 at an event in New York City.
The HTC Mozart, if the images are to be trusted, will feature a 3.7-inch TFT LCD display with a resolution of 800 by 480 pixels and measures approximately 4.7 by 2.4 by 0.5 inches. WiFi b/g/n, GPS, A-GPS and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity will be included, along with a 1GHz processor, 8GB of memory, and an 8-megapixel camera with flash and 720p video recording.
Other goodies include a 3.5mm audio jack, Dolby surround sound, ambient light, gravity and proximity sensors, a digital compass, the ability to sync with a Microsoft X-Box Live and a “rich suite of 3D applications,” according to the Phones 4U promotional materials. The battery is a 1300mAh.
While HTC has dominated its mobile portfolio with devices running Google’s Android OS, Microsoft is betting in a big way on Windows Phone 7, and the Taiwan-based manufacturer is showing itself to be prepared, should consumers take to the its new OS. According to a Sept. 30 report by the Wall Street Journal, AT&T plans to release three handsets running Windows Phone 7 – one each from HTC, Samsung and LG Electronics.
To view images of earlier incarnations of Microsoft’s mobile operating systems, click here.
Samsung, another major supporter of Android, also plans to offer several smartphones running Windows Phone 7, though it has decline to detail how many.
“Samsung’s new Windows Phone 7-based smartphones will play a key role in reinforcing Samsung’s leadership in the smartphone market and commitment to providing a range of devices across a variety of platforms,” Simon Stanford, head of Mobile for Samsung UK and Ireland, said in a Sept. 30 statement.
Previous generations of Microsoft mobile operating systems have been a bust, but with Windows Phone 7, executives promise that something brand new is coming.
“We missed a generation with Windows Mobile,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told the audience during his July 12 keynote at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference. But with Windows Phone 7, he promised, “We will give you a set of Windows-based devices that people will be proud to carry.”