You may have noticed that among the first crop of Windows Phone 7 smartphones that only the Samsung Focus has a memory expansion slot. The reason for this is that the new Microsoft mobile OS doesn’t treat flash memory cards like older Windows Mobile or current Android smartphones do.
Because Windows Phone 7 employs memory cards differently than most mobile devices, we’ve posted a page in the Help Center to answer questions you might have about the Focus and its special memory card handling.
The HTC Surround T8788 – one of the first Windows Phone 7 smartphones available in the U.S. – is now available at Amazon.com for $99 with a new two-year service agreement. No mail-in rebate required. Two-day shipping is also free.
As of this posting, the Surround is in stock and ready to ship from Amazon.
Learn more about the HTC Surround Windows Phone…
The direct AT&T price for the HTC Surround is $199 with a two-year contract.
It’s official: the Motorola Droid Pro will arrive at Verizon Wireless on November 18th. But if you want to get in line early you can pre-order beginning tomorrow, November 9. The direct, out-the-door price for Motorola’s latest Android smartphone will be $279 with a two-year contract, but there’ll also be a $100 mail-in rebate (debit card) bringing the final price to $179. Third-party retailers will likely beat this price for new customers shortly after release.
Specs Recap: 1GHz TI processor, 3.1-inch touchscreen, Android 2.2 OS, 2GB of internal memory, 5MP camera with LED flash (SD video recording), 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, GSM world phone capabilities.
Learn more about the Motorola Droid Pro…
Take a look at today’s press release after the jump.
DROID PRO BY MOTOROLA NOW AVAILABLE ON THE NATION’S LARGEST AND MOST RELIABLE 3G NETWORK
NOVEMBER 8, 2010, BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. – Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless 3G network, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), today announced that DROID PRO, the first Android™-based smartphone optimized for business use, will be available as a pre-sale order at select Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com starting Nov. 9 and for purchase in stores starting Nov. 18. The DROID PRO will be available for $179.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.
DROID PRO, a global-ready Android smartphone, allows customers to enjoy wireless voice service in more than 220 countries and data coverage in more than 200 countries, with more than 120 with 3G speeds. Powered by Android 2.2, DROID PRO is packed with features that meet both business and personal needs such as pre-loaded Quickoffice Mobile Suite, 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities, and a QWERTY keyboard designed for speed and convenience.
Verizon Wireless customers who purchase DROID PRO will receive the mail-in rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted. DROID PRO customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan (beginning at $39.99 monthly access) and a 3G Smartphone Plan.
For more information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.
Today’s the first day Americans can purchase a Windows Phone 7 smartphone. Only three Windows Phone handsets are available today with more debuting over the coming weeks and months.
T-Mobile and AT&T are offering the first devices; Sprint and Verizon Wireless are slated to add Windows Phone 7 devices in early 2011. Available today from T-Mobile is the HTC HD7, a 4.3-inch slab phone with 16GB of onboard flash storage. The other two from AT&T: the Samsung Focus and HTC Surround. The LG Quantum is expected to ship next week.
You can, of course, head to your local T-Mobile or AT&T stores for a shiny new Windows Phone 7 smartphone, or you can check out the online sellers below.
View Windows Phone 7 Smartphones @ Amazon
In order to get the Windows Phone 7 OS out the door as quickly as possible, Microsoft left some fairly important features out of the RTM with the intention of adding them later. And while the list of missing features is fairly long, none has garnered more attention than copy and paste.
But the wait for this particular functionality may not be as long as some thought.
Microsoft Project Marketing Groups Director Arpan Shah has just posted on his MSDN blog that the feature will be available in early 2011:
“Critics have commented on the lack of specific features like copy & paste and lack of 100s of thousands of applications. And while both are true, copy & paste will be available as an update in a matter of weeks (early 2011) and as for applications, it’s just a matter of time.”
If accurate, that’s great news. Now, can they work on tethering?
Thanks, Pete, for the tip.
Motorola has another Messenger-class Android phone on the way, this time a member of the popular Droid family. The Droid Pro XT610, like its budget sibling the Motorola Charm, has a front-facing QWERTY keyboard, but in most other respects is more akin to the Droid X and Droid 2.
Features include Android 2.2, a 1GHz TI OMAP CPU (model not confirmed), 512MB of RAM, a 3.1-inch touchscreen display (some reports say that the screen is transflective rather than capacitive, but we hope this is not correct), a 5MP camera, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and a microSDHC card slot for up to 32GB of additional file storage.
A recently-leaked document indicates that the Droid Pro will go up for pre-order on November 9, 2010, and become openly available nine days later. The document also indicates that those who pre-order will get their handsets before the official launch on November 18th, which is pretty cool if you’re a Droid fan.
story links: Printers
story links: Computer Networking
story links: Computer Hardware
story links: ??? Software