Shocker: HTC plans Windows Phone 7 Series device by year's end

In news apt to surprise absolutely no one, HTC CEO Peter Chou told Forbes this week that his company would make a Windows Phone 7 Series handset by the end of the year. For the sake of argument, we suppose there are a couple reasons he wouldn't want to. Historically, HTC has pledged loyalty to Microsoft time and again, even making the premium HD2 a Windows Mobile exclusive, but conspiracy theorists might suggest Microsoft returned the favor by denying the HD2 entry to Windows Phone 7 Series. Also, HTC has been rocking the bejeezus out of Android as of late -- the news that the company's planning a WP7S phone comes alongside HTC's claim that the Nexus One was a success. Regardless, we never questioned if HTC would build a WP7S handset, only when; there's no way they're going to let a lucrative new smartphone market get mopped up by the likes of Samsung and LG.

[Ed T Posted Mar 27th 2010 9:18AM]

Does anyone else think WP7S is going to be ready by the end of the year? The stuff they were showing was nowhere close to a shipping product, and IMO a stable release is at least a year away. I think HTC is just looking for some positive PR.

[Biotite Posted Mar 27th 2010 10:23AM]

@Ed T When Microsoft sets a deadline they keep it. We'll see phones by Christmas.

[nabberuk Posted Mar 27th 2010 9:40AM]

@mschmidler


or perhaps on his pc........

[HardToBelieve Posted Mar 27th 2010 9:40AM]

No surprise. I would definitely choose the HTC device.

[Zo Posted Mar 27th 2010 10:07AM]

Seriously, if the only reason they could not go to WinMo7 was because of the buttons, how hard of a change is it to make an HD3

[Lancer2222 Posted Mar 27th 2010 10:32AM]

Let it be known to all, & please don't judge me.... the Taiwanese, Chines, & Korean approaches in business does not have any loyalty to any thing but there own pure interest. now I know this could be generalized to all international extent but there is always ethical limits that the aforementioned business modules never restrict themselves to. So we expect any thing from these types of companies. I don't mean this in a racial way, I'm Asian if that matters (Middle East to be specific) but the westerners and the Japanese are very loyal to their business partners if a mutual foundation of trust was established.

[xconan Posted Mar 27th 2010 10:51AM]

@Lancer2222
in business survival mode there is no loyalty and that's from the "the art of war" and most b school students should probably have come across it in their studies. your loyal business partner could turn out to be your brutal enemy i.e. apple vs. google

[TareG Posted Mar 27th 2010 11:18AM]

@Lancer2222
Yep... yeah, that sounded racist.

[Lancer2222 Posted Mar 27th 2010 4:38PM]

@xconan
I totally agree with you, ethics is no longer an element in commerce. Any way.. i guess this b grade student is speaking out of his own experiences and others he know... I could be wrong... with humans it's all a matter of relativity.

[takedown Posted Mar 27th 2010 10:39AM]

Samsung and LG....just dont have the same ring and dedication as HTC

[xconan Posted Mar 27th 2010 10:52AM]

@takedown
Rarely do conglomerates have a clear focus in design. They're all over the place (see Sony).

[JRKScope Posted Mar 27th 2010 10:42AM]

I don't think most companies will have more than two WP7 phones if you ask me. They're always going to be high spec. So I can see HTC making a Diamond 3 phone and then a Diamond Pro phone with a keyboard both using WP7S.

[sygtk Posted Mar 27th 2010 11:42AM]

all i want for my birthday this summer is a HTC Touch Pro Evo LOL!

[krishansy Posted Mar 27th 2010 11:44AM]

My only hope on Copy Paste (and possibly on Multitasking) on WP7S is it is Microsoft. Old habits die hard. Microsoft at some stage will simply turn a blind eye to the 3rd parties unlocking the phones for copy paste or multitasking, Microsoft pretending that it didn't see anything. I doubt MSFT can be as rigid as Uncle Jobs within months.

[Slvrgun Posted Mar 27th 2010 12:09PM]

Just give me something like the HTC EVO (or better) on Sprint with Wimax and I'll buy it. Make it no more than $250 and I'll purchase it first day.

[Slvrgun Posted Mar 27th 2010 12:10PM]

@Slvrgun Oh a keyboard would be nice but its not a deal breaker.

[Nunya Bizness Posted Mar 27th 2010 12:17PM]

IT BETTER HAVE A LANDSCAPE SLIDE-OUT KEYBAORD !!!!!!

I've been a WM faithful from he beginning, but I'm ready to flush Microsoft/HTC down the toilet right now.

[kenny goo Posted Mar 27th 2010 1:15PM]

HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3 HD3

[trashoner Posted Mar 27th 2010 2:08PM]

I actually sent an email to HTC talking about the HD2 not being WP7S upgradable and the rep replied by telling me that they will definitely be making phones for the OS and the shocker its that he mentioned in the email that they would make an HD2 version for WP7S with less buttons and other underpinning that needs to be done in order to qualify for the OS. When you think about it shouldn't be that hard for them to get rid of 2 buttons in a handset and put it out in the marker. I have the email still and did send it to engadget but I guess they thought it wasn't that big of a deal.

[Sogeking Posted Mar 27th 2010 2:24PM]

@trashoner

You know what would be awesome? If they actually had a voluntary recall to change the faceplates of the HD2 and remove the extra buttons for those who want to upgrade to WM7.

[Johnny Rockets Posted Mar 27th 2010 2:16PM]

@ Idiots

The Nexus One's success or failure is not determined by the number of sales, but by the quality of the phone and how people who have actually ****PURCHASED**** the phone like it.

- Sent from my T-Mobile Nexus One.

[PMJ Posted Mar 27th 2010 3:05PM]

Just make it feel great to hold and add some metal parts. Leave the mega-screens and specs for WinMo 6.5 and Android.

I think HTC will keep WP7S phones light and nimble. It seems the point of the OS is more on aesthetics than just raw power. So think something more like a Diamond 3 or HD Mini. They really should invest in making the components as high as quality as possible. And try to use high quality optics in the camera. I had a Nokia N95 and I don't think I saw better pictures in a comparable digicam.

[Talent384 Posted Mar 27th 2010 3:13PM]

HTC makes the best phones... bar none

[BrownSound Posted Mar 27th 2010 3:46PM]

Will the Evo be upgradable to windows mobile 7 OS?

[Makali Posted Mar 27th 2010 5:54PM]

Single thread windoze 7 is dead on Arrival another slow clunky os from ms windoze95 here we come HTCshould work on webos phones

[drinking water Posted Mar 27th 2010 6:39PM]

htc makes very good smartphone

[Eriq Posted Mar 27th 2010 10:18PM]

Keyboard, please.

[BrownSound Posted Mar 28th 2010 12:16AM]

now to wait for android evo or win7 htc phone

[Dale P Posted Mar 28th 2010 12:22AM]

Don't Stop by Annie is a fantastic album. SOLD.

[killplay Posted Apr 15th 2010 2:47PM]

This just in, HTC will whore themselves out to any company that will put software on their hardware.

[zross312 Posted May 24th 2010 6:09PM]

I find WinPhone 7 to be underwhelming, and I can't see who would actually want one when compared to the mature iPhone and Android juggernauts. That said, the more competition the better, as proved when Android competition forced Apple to implement multitasking in iPhone OS4. Maybe Google and Apple will be forced to innovate further because of the new OS? But I can't see it succeeding in the marketplace.