T-Mobile brings Nokia Lumia 710

Number-four U.S. mobile operator might have been able to offer the iPhone, but it does have a bit of a feather in its cap now: it’s offering the first Nokia Windows Phone device available in the United States, the Nokia Lumia 710. But instead of being a high-end device intended to appeal to the cutting edge of the mobile universe, the Lumia 710 is really intended as a starter smartphone and its $49.99 price emphasizes that appeal.

“We’re excited to team with Nokia in bringing its first Windows Phone to the U.S. with the elegantly designed Nokia Lumia 710,” said T-Mobile USA chief marketing officer Cole Brodman. “Windows Phone offers a compelling mobile OS choice for people who want a smartphone built around them, their family, and friends. We expect it to play a more prominent role in our lineup and marketing efforts in 2012.”

The Nokia Lumia 710 sports a 3.7-inch 800 by 480-pixel touchscreen display, a 1.4 GHz Qualcomm SnapDragon processor, a 5 megapixel camera, assisted GPS, 802.11 b/g/n and BLuetooth 2.1+EDR wireless networking, and the phone has 8 GB of onboard flash storage. It runs Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) operating system, and Nokia says it’ll handle up to 7 hours of talk time on a battery charge. The Lumia 710 also operates on T-Mobile’s HSPA+ “4G” network, meaning users can tap into streaming video, mobile TV, and other high-bandwidth mobile applications—and the device comes with a bunch of them front and center, including Netflix and T-Mobile TV, along with Xbox Live and the Windows Phone Office Hub.

T-Mobile is positioning the Lumia 710 as a solid starter phone for users who have yet to make the jump from feature phones to smartphones and those might just be the ideal customers for Windows Phone devices, since they don’t have baggage of iOS or Android apps and content that might keep them locked into other platforms.

The Nokia Lumia 710 is available in white or black starting today at T-Mobile retail stores and selected retailers for $49.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate card, when purchased with a qualifying two-year service agreement.

Microsoft soon to launch Mango smartphones

Microsoft Corp, which has been trailing Apple Inc and Google Inc in the fast-growing smartphone market, said it will launch Mango-powered handsets from top makers including Nokia Oyj, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and HTC Corp in coming weeks.

The smartphone sector is currently dominated by Apple and Android phones, which together make up about half of the market, with Microsoft seen as slow to react to the rapidly rising popularity of mobile devices.

But some analysts say Microsoft still has time to catch up, especially given uncertainties among handset makers after Google's planned purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc sparked worries that Google may one day produce its own handsets.

"We've seen hardware manufacturers very nervous about what Google is doing. I think anyone who turns around and competes with you is a cause for concern," said Andrew Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows phone division.

Blackberry maker Research In Motion Ltd's recent outage problems might also ultimately help competitors such as Microsoft, analysts said.

Mango vs Apple, Ice Cream Sandwich:
Microsoft sees the United States, Europe and China as its top markets for handsets based on its new Mango operating system.

"As the price comes down, emerging markets do become a huge opportunity, but also the existing markets in western Europe and the U.S., because as the price point comes down, more people will get into the smartphone market," Lees said.

Lees said there were currently more than 30,000 applications for Windows smartphones, compared with about 500,000 applications in Apple's App Store.

Microsoft would introduce its Mango handsets in China for the first time next year. China is the world's biggest mobile phone market, with more than 900 million subscribers, although only a fraction are smartphone users, many of whom use Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy.

Microsoft would launch Samsung and HTC Mango smartphones in the United States and Europe over the next week or so, with Nokia following in various markets, Lees said.

Fujitsu Ltd has already rolled out a Mango smartphone in Japan.

Microsoft's comments come a day after Samsung and Google held the Hong Kong launch of the first smartphone powered by the new Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

AT&T becomes First US Carrier for Mango Phones

AT&T has announced it will add new Windows Phone 7.5 phones to its lineup, becoming the first in the U.S. to offer devices using the Mango version.

AT&T also said all Windows phones handled by the company would be updated to the Mango version of the Windows Phone operating system this fall. Two of the new 4G devices are from Samsung, and one is from HTC.

Focus S, Focus Flash, Titan:
The Samsung-made Focus S updates its earlier Focus phone, which AT&T described as the biggest-selling Windows phone in the United States. It offers a 4.3-inch Super-AMOLED-Plus display, a 1.4-GHz processor, 4G-capable speeds, a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera and a rear-facing 8-megapixel, and a width of only 8.55 millimeters.

The Samsung Focus Flash has a 3.7-inch Super0-AMOLED screen, a 1.4-GHz processor and a 5-megapixel camera. The HTC Titan has the largest screen of any AT&T phone, 4.7 inches. It features a 1.5-GHz processor and an 8-megapixel camera with dual LED flash. Pricing and ship dates have not yet been announced.

AT&T said other Windows phones that would be updated to Mango included the HTC HD7S, the HTC Surround, the LG Quantum and the Focus.

The Mango update to Windows Phone 7 offers a variety of improvements that Microsoft hopes will help it gain footing in the current mobile market, which is dominated by Apple and Android phones.

Multitasking, Local Scout and Office:
Except for the "live tiles" interface that provides an updateable, simplified way of organizing one's apps and data, the original Phone 7 platform did not receive a whole lot of praise. Mango, however, is intended to correct that, with the addition of features such as multitasking, so that a user can move between apps without having to quit and reboot any of them.

There is also native support for Internet Explorer 9 and 4G high-speed wireless, and a new feature called Threads allows users to conduct a conversation while moving between Live Messenger, Facebook, and text messages. The various threads of the conversation are displayed on one screen.

A feature called Local Scout, tied in with Microsoft's Bing search engine, offers local results for shopping, entertainment, and restaurants, and Scout knows where you are via GPS. Microsoft is also expected to enable its Mango phones with Skype, which will help to accelerate the downward spiral of voice services even as data needs increase. The software giant has not yet issued a timetable for that to happen, but since it is buying Skype for $8.5 billion, the only question is when.

And then there's the Office tie-in. With Mango, users can get access to the Office 365 productivity suite in the cloud, meaning access to using Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files.

HTC unveils Windows Mango phones: Titan and Radar

HTC came on big with Windows Phone 7 devices last year, and now the Taiwanese handset maker is doing a repeat performance with Windows Phone Mango. HTC just unveiled the Titan and the Radar smartphones.

Although Microsoft and Nokia have a strategic alliance, HTC may be first to market with devices carrying the new operating system. The Titan has a 4.7-inch display - HTC's largest phone screen ever. The Radar is designed for consumers who are hyper-focused on people, news and entertainment.

"Phones were originally designed for communication, but they haven't kept up with the way consumers are actually communicating today," said Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows Phone Division. He called the designs of HTC's Titan and Radar "sleek" and "modern" in his best effort to promote the new phones.

HTC to bring Windows Mango Phones

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC plans to bring out phones based on Microsoft's new Mango Windows phone software, HTC Chief Executive Peter Chou said.

Microsoft hopes a host of new features on Mango, a stepping stone to a full Windows phone software update due next year, will help it close the gap on smartphones leaders Google and Apple.

"We have some Windows Mango phones," Chou said in an interview on the fringes of an Internet conference hosted by President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. "We are very committed to Windows phone products."

Chou, who is known for killing off products he is not satisfied with at a late stage of development, declined to say when the first HTC Mango phones might appear.

Taiwan-based HTC has seen runaway success with smartphones based on Google's Android operating system, a rival to Microsoft's Windows phone. But it also has a long-standing partnership with Microsoft, which Chou said would not change.

Last month, HTC said it expected its revenue to double in the current quarter.