AT&T to offer three Mango smartphones this fall

Computerworld - AT&T said Monday that it will introduce three new Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" phones this fall while updating its existing four Windows Phone 7 smartphones with the new mobile operating system.

The three new phones -- whose launch dates and prices have not been announced -- are the HTC Titan and the Samsung Focus S and Samsung Focus Flash. All three will run on AT&T's high-speed 4G HSPA network.

The existing Windows Phone 7 devices that will get the Mango update this fall are the HTC HD7S, the HTC Surround, the LG quantum and the Samsung Focus. AT&T did not specify when the updates would be available.

AT&T called itself the "clear leader in Windows Phones" even though the platform has only attracted a fraction of the global smartphone market thus far. Jeff Bradley, senior vice president of devices for AT&T Mobility, said AT&T has sold more Windows Phones than any other carrier or retailer. AT&T officials appeared with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer when Windows Phone 7 devices were first launched in New York last fall.

The HTC Titan will have a 4.7-in. touchscreen and will feature a 1.5GHz processor, making it one of the largest and most powerful smartphones on the market. The 4.7-in. screen will be the largest on any model of smartphone that AT&T sells. It will also have an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, as well as a front-facing camera. Microsoft officials said that AT&T will get an exclusive "unique" version of the Titan, which was unveiled last week as a global phone. "We'll have to keep you in suspense for a while longer on what it looks like and final specs," Microsoft blogger Brian Seitz said.

An AT&T spokeswoman said no images of the three new Mango phones are available officially.

HTC announced on Sept. 1 that the global version of Titan and an HTC Radar phone will be available in October in Europe and Asia.

The Samsung Focus S has a 4.3-in. Super AMOLED Plus display for clarity and a 1.4GHz processor. It includes a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera and a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera and is a slim 8.55 millimeters (0.33 in.) thick.

The Samsung Focus Flash is smaller, with a 3.7-in. Super AMOLED screen, but it has a 1.4GHz processor and two cameras, including a rear-facing 5-megapixel model. (No rating was provided on the front-facing one.) AT&T and Samsung called the Flash a "value" device, which usually means it will be priced well below the going rate for the hottest smartphones, which run from $150 to $200 with a two-year contract.

Microsoft officials have declared that Mango has 500 improvements over the original Windows Phone 7 operating system, including the Internet Explorer 9 browser and support for HTML5.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.

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