The first Windows Phones in Europe as of October

So then, we'll be seeing the first Windows Phone 7 phones launching in October, just in time for Christmas.

Steve Turner, COO at Microsoft, released the information during a presentation of the firm's financial results: Europe will be getting Windows phones a month before the United States.

As to which partner will have the first phone out, nothing has been given away yet. Eric Surdej, Executive VP of LG France announced in February that LG would be the first to put out a Windows Phone: "we will be the first to offer a smartphone in Windows Phone 7 Series, perhaps along with a Taiwanese competitor." A few weeks ago, a close source of the said Taiwanese competitor, told us that the developers of the new OS were working on HTC phones... It looks very likely that several different brands of Windows phone will be released at the same time.

One thing is sure: Microsoft can count on some solid partners in spite of the drop in sales of smartphones running Windows Mobile, especially in North America, and in spite of the appetite for Google's Android, which, in contrast to Windows Phone 7, is a free OS.


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