Fujitsu will team up with Japanese mobile carrier KDDI in August to launch the first Windows Phone 7 smartphone running the updated "Mango" OS, according to Japanese business newspaper Nikkei.
As reported by Engadget, the Toshiba Fujitsu IS12T includes a 3.7-inch LCD display, water-resistant chassis, and a pricetag of around 30,000-40,000 yen ($378-$505). No other specs were given, but Engadget speculated this is the same device as the pink phone shown by Fujitsu last week at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference (see pic below). The other two "Mango" devices are from Acer and ZTE; Microsoft also showed off a Samsung device.
"Mango" is the next software update for the Windows Phone 7 platform. At its unveiling in May, Microsoft Windows Phone president Andy Lees said it wouldn't come out until fall, with many assuming the first Mango device would come from Microsoft's big new hardware partner, Nokia. In June, Nokia teased its first Windows Phone 7 device with Mango, codenamed "Sea Ray."
Speaking of Microsoft, at the conference Lees also denied that upcoming tablets will run on Windows Phone 7 because the company views "a tablet as a sort of PC" rather than a phone. This contrasts from Google's Android operating system, which is coming out with Android 4.0, aka "Ice Cream Sandwich," to work on both tablets and smartphones.
For a comparison on upcoming mobile operating systems from all the major players, see Smartphone OS Preview: iOS 5 vs. Android 2.3 Gingerbread vs. Windows Phone 7 Mango vs. Blackberry 7 OS.
