Rumour: 4 Samsung Windows Mobile handsets coming, officially upgradable to Windows Phone 7

March 22, 2010 | By Surur

Unwiredview.com brings us this rumour from Russian Mobile wizard site Mobile-Review.com. The site famously brought us some of the first Windows Phone 7 news, confirming the lack of backward compatibility and the Zune-like UI.

According to Mobile review.com, Samsung will by launching 4 extremely powerful Windows Mobile handsets this summer. The handsets will be even more powerful than the HTC HD2, some with HD video support and 4 inch AMOLED screens.

Of course, with Windows Phone 7 announced, any company with their ears close to the ground would realize no-one will be investing in an expensive Windows Mobile 6.5 handset. Samsung, wisely however, is apparently negotiating with Microsoft to make these handsets officially upgradable to Windows phone 7 in January 2011.

Now if only HTC caught the hint…

Will our readers buy an officially upgradable handset or wait for devices which come pre-installed with Windows Phone 7? Let us know below.

Via Unwiredview.com.

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged rumour, rumours, samsung, windows phone 7

http://intensedebate.com/people/chinch chinch

Seems premature in March to do anything more than speculate but it would be a GREAT MARKETING MOVE for Windows Phone and a vendor like Samsung since it could sustain WM marketshare with future-proof wm6.5 devices (summer/fall) that can go to wp7.

I cannot imagine carriers (verizon, etc.) would want to deal with the hassle though. It would almost double their advertising costs, support, etc.

Kalif

So you'd have a WinMo 6.5 handset, that has multitasking, copy paste, and you can download and sideload apps from wherever you choose.

After upgrading it to WP7S, the multitasking has gone, the copy paste has gone, and Ballmer gets to say what apps you can and can't have.

Jay

You forgot about no more external storage media and no more usb storage access.

It's a good business model, just make people pay more for more internal storage since they can't upgrade it cheaply themselves. Like the iPhone.. 16gb or 32gb version.. just pay more.

GP007

You might want to make note that new 32GB miniSD cards for phones cost $200 a pop! Now I'm sure most can just go with the 16GB cards for $50, but if phones come in 16GB or 32GB versions like you said, there is no need to mess around with external cards.

Also, MS, for now, by locking that feature has made sure that people don't swipe out an old card with a newer one only to wonder where the hell their media/apps, w/e all went.

Mii

Give it a rest bob. The option is there if you don't want to upgrade. A streamline experience that of WinPho7 will be the standard in mobile phones. People don't want to fuck around with the registry like you. MS doesn't force you to upgrade either.
http://intensedebate.com/people/chinch chinch

your argument is senseless in that anyone happy with WM6.5 can simply not upgrade to WP7S.

John

HTC has been mum on any WP7S devices. Im really curious to see what they have planned, although I get the feeling Android is their primary horse now.

Taiwan_techie

HTC scratched Microsoft's back for free for all those years, now when HTC expects Microsoft to scratch its back it got knifed.

Google is a growing juggernaut, note their rapid expansion. Let's just say that Google is giving HTC the respect it deserves as a partner – something Microsoft failed to do.

Coyote711

If a wm 6.5 device can be upgraded to 7, how hard would it be to get it on the hd2? I know these phones are probably going to be more powerful than the hd2, but the hd2 is still capable I think of running it. I think this brings some hope to hd2 owners.

Peter

Drivers and a native kernel for WPS7. If those are never released than no one, including XDA, can get the HD2 to run WPS7.

http://www.facebook.com/Djay92 Dudley SoCerebral Jackson

I like this post…Now if HTC would follow the same plan…I havent seen any 6.5.X devices from them yet so anytime now HTC…
http://intensedebate.com/people/l3v5y l3v5y

HTC Photon? Won't be WP7 capable, but is WM6.5.X.
http://www.chainfire.eu/ Chainfire

Wouldn't that be an amolEd screen instead of amold ?

Note that MS/HTC has WP7S running on HD2's… The Q is if _we_ will get it
http://intensedebate.com/people/l3v5y l3v5y

There's nothing technically stopping WP7 on an HD2 (and quite a lot of Microsoft's mobile division use HD2s), but I think it may make business sense to go down the no upgrade route, and just sell a few more HD3s or whatever.

Hopefully I'm wrong.
Rico

Problem is, i absolutely HATE TouchWiz. i'll take Sense or LG's S-Class interface, in that order. Also, waiting for January 2011 to upgrade doesn't sound that appealing to me.

Still, kudos to Samsung for bringing something that'll possibly appeal to those who want a powerful WinMo device with the possibility of upgrading their device once WP7 software catches up with their needs/wants.
Rico

i meant to say "if this is true, kudos to Samsung".
Kalif

Wasn't it a Russian website that previously claimed that the HTC HD2 was upgradeable. People got their hopes up, only to be dashed when Microsoft eventually announced that the HD2 is not upgradeable to WP7S.

We can take this rumor with a grain of salt, just like the previous HD2 rumors that turned out to be unfounded.

HTC needs to rework the HD2. Call it the HD3. Put an AMOLED screen on it (to replace the old TFT screen). Make it a WP7S handset (then again, not all WinMo users want WP7S).
Guest

It's a great idea for WMPOWERUSER visitors, but I don't think that's a great idea for the general public.

What will happen when the general public realizes that the apps that they bought in the WM6.5 Marketplace don't work with WP7? What happens when only some the data gets transferred because MS My Phone only backs up some of the data and the general user loses their data? Why would a general user spend 6 months fighting with the WM6.5 UI only to have to relearn everything when WP7 comes out?

All I can see are headaches for all parties involved, except for WM Geeks. The Experts can handle it, but those are the users a manufacturer needs to worry about if they're trying to beat the iPhone.
sayitaintso

I hate to sound negative, but I just don't see any of this happening. It seems M$ is pushing WM7 hard and basically wants everyone to migrate to it. They also seem to be locking down WM7 draconian style. I just don't see them allowing 6.5 devices to migrate to WM7 officially. It leaves mixed messages about being able to downgrade back to WM6.5 if the user doesn't like WM7. Don't get me wrong I hope this news is true, but I am not counting on it.

Kalif

I hadn't thought of that… that people may want to downgrade WP7S back to WinMo 6.5. It sounds a bit like the Vista days, when many downgraded to XP.

j j

It's a rumor but I see truth in it. Seems like Samsung release a new phone every time I use the toilet.

I don't imagine them resting on their laurels for 6 months.