HTC To Launch Windows Mobile 7 HD3 Smartphone

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In a show of loyalty to Microsoft, its original OS partner, HTC is preparing to launch an HD3 Windows Phone 7 in London on Sept. 15. Also at the event, the Taiwanese phone maker will announce a new Android-based tablet along with an HTC Desire running Android 2.2, according to Smarthouse.com.

While the HTC HD3 is expected to have better power management capabilities than its predecessor, HD2 Windows Mobile, it will likely not have a wide range of applications, as developers tend to prefer developing smartphone apps for Android and Apple iPhone handsets.

The Windows Mobile 7 HD3 device, codenamed 6HTHD7XM, comes with a 4.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels, a dual-core 1.5-GHz ARM-based processor, 1-GB RAM, 32-GB storage, Wi-Fi and 4G capabilities, an 8-megapixel camera with two LED flashes, an HDMI port, HD video recording capabilities, and an 1800mAh battery. Unlike the HD2, which has five buttons, the HD3 has only three. Its features make it a strong competitor to other smartphones, including the iPhone 4, Droid X, EVO 4G, and Nokia 8.

The device will go on sale in Australia at Telstra, which has been given a three-month exclusive contract, according to Smarthouse.com. The carrier was successful selling the HTC HD2 Windows Mobile-based phone, which runs Windows Mobile 6.5, has a 4.3-inch screen, a 5-megapixel camera, media player, TouchFlo 3D user interface, Wi-Fi router, and built-in GPS.

The challenge now is for HTC to differentiate its Windows Phone 7 device from other licensees, said Avi Greengart, research director of consumer devices, at research firm Current Analysis. "But the bigger challenge is for Microsoft itself now that Apple and Google have firmly established themselves as premier smartphone vendors, while RIM has grown strongly despite the competition, and Nokia remains the largest smartphone vendor overall globally," he said in an e-mail.

Greengart added that Microsoft made the difficult, but correct decision to abandon Windows Mobile and "start fresh with an OS designed from the ground up for finger-driven user interaction, modern development technologies, and rich integration of Microsoft's many digital assets, from Exchange to Xbox." Microsoft will have to rely on these attributes, Greengart said, in order to convince consumers to buy a Windows Phone 7 device, since it is expected to be app-light at launch, while Apple's App Store has 250,000 entries and continues to add more.

Microsoft has been trying to woo device manufacturers like Acer, Toshiba, Sony Ericsson, and Hewlett-Packard to show support for the new Win 7 phone. Former Windows Mobile phone manufacturer Samsung told Reuters last week that consumer demand is driving it to focus primarily on Google's Android platform and its own Bada operating system. However, YH Lee, head of marketing at Samsung Mobile, said it will introduce a smartphone running Win 7 later this year, saying there is still some specialized demand for it.