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Samsung has grown its Omnia smartphone series with the addition of the Omnia Pro B7330, which the company announced will run the upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. Samsung additionally announced that all currently available Omnia models will be upgraded to run the OS as well.
The Omnia Pro B7330 is a slate-style phone with a QWERTY keyboard and a 2.62-inch QVGA screen-no touch-screen here. It’s compatible with GSM 850/900/1800/1900 networks and includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an FM radio and A-GPS. There’s also a 3-megapixel camera, 270MB of internal memory and a microSD slot for boosting that number.
The smartphone will ship in October, though a specific date has not yet been released. Microsoft, however, has said it will ship its “Windows phones” on Oct. 6, and that it will have 600 applications in its store when they launch. More than Apple, with its 65,000-plus offerings in the App Store, Microsoft’s real competition is said to be the more enterprise-focused BlackBerry maker, Research In Motion. With the launch of its new phone and app store, Microsoft is certain to boost its branding efforts to make a more relevant name for itself in the current mobile phone market.
On Sept. 1, Microsoft’s general manager for product management, Stephanie Ferguson, wrote on the Windows Mobile blog that during surveys the company had done in preparation for the software’s launch, researchers discovered a disturbing trend.
“Interestingly enough, we discovered that most people who carry a Windows phone don’t realize it’s running Windows Mobile,” Ferguson wrote. Going forward, she continued, “you’ll see us try to simplify our branding so it’s easier for people to know when they’re carrying a Windows phone, and easier to find them in stores.”
The update to Windows Mobile 6.5 will include the Omnia II, coming to Verizon Wireless, the OmniaPro B7610 and the non-U.S. OmniaPro B7320.