(Updated) As anticipated, the new mobile platform from Microsoft was today announced internationally. In Portugal the first devices with Windows Phone 7 will be on sale even before Christmas, but in the English version. Full features, in Portuguese, will only be available in 2011.
Only five countries in Europe are advancing today with the full functionality of the new Windows Phone 7, where in addition to the language, the interface with Xbox Live, the purchase of applications on the Marketplace and the Zune Pass are guaranteed.
The possibility to start games on the phone and continue on the room console, the purchase of Zune music directly on the phone and the purchase of applications in the marketplace will be the main differences in the experience of Portuguese users who can still buy their first phones this year. with Windows Phone 7, from various brands including HTC, LG and Samsung, which will be marketed by mobile operators and in selected retail chains.
TMN has already guaranteed that it will launch the Samsung Omnia 7 exclusively, adding that it is “among the first operators in the world selected to launch the latest Microsoft operating system”. The phone is expected to hit stores in October, although there is no definitive date.
Prices for the first terminals with the new Microsoft mobile system are not yet known, as are the specific models that will be on sale in Portugal, but although the company vaguely points the date to “before Christmas”, it is expected that the first equipment is on sale in the coming weeks.
In the international presentation – which can be followed here – Microsoft assured that the main mobile operators in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia will have the first models of Windows Phone 7 phones on sale this Christmas, as expected. The first models are sold from October 21st.
There are 60 mobile operators in 30 countries in a first wave that includes America Movil, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Movistar, O2, Orange, SFR, SingTel, Telcel, Telstra, TELUS, T-Mobile USA and Vodafone.
The highlighted manufacturers are Dell, HTC, LG, Samsung, counting all phones with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, but more models will be launched in the first half of 2011.
