Competition is heating up between smartphone manufacturers to be the new face of Windows Phone, with a proliferation of new devices.
This week, HTC unveiled the first of its Windows Phone 8 handsets and what the company calls "the first signature Windows Phones". The two new handsets are the Windows Phone 8X and 8S.
The flagship 8X model has a 4.3-inch HD LCD display, with 341ppi. It also features an 8MP camera with a BSI sensor for low-light conditions, and has a Qualcomm S4 1.5GHz dual-core processor. The mid-range 8S model features a four-inch super LCD display with WVGA resolution, a 5MP camera and a Qualcomm S4 1GHz dual-core processor. Both handsets feature what HTC calls "studio quality sound" with Beats Audio, and the 8X handset also has built-in amplifiers.
HTC CEO Peter Chou says: "We've been inspired by Windows Phone 8 to create new smartphones that give the platform the iconic design and personality it deserves. Windows Phone has clearly emerged as one of the top mobile ecosystems and is competitive against any other smartphone platform in the world."
According to HTC, the Windows Phone 8X and 8S "blend the virtual and the physical, utilising a three-dimensional, pure uni-body design based on the Windows Phone Live Tiles". The handsets will be available in a range of colours, including California Blue, Graphite Black, Flame Red and Limelight Yellow for the 8X, and Domino, Fiesta Red, Atlantic Blue and High-Rise Grey for the 8S.
Microsoft corporate VP of the Windows Phone division, Terry Myerson, also noted in a post on the Windows Team blog: "As you might have noticed, these are the first devices with 'Windows Phone' right in the name. HTC CEO Peter Chou said that after seeing our plans for Windows Phone 8, he asked his designers to go big and create phones to match our software's design and personality. I think they achieved that and more."
Lead product?
Speaking to The Verge, HTC's director of commercialisation and product management for EMEA, Graham Wheeler, said: "It will be a joint marketing campaign where our devices will be the signature devices, almost the face of Windows Phone 8 in the marketing collateral with Microsoft."
According to Wheeler, the partnership with Microsoft will also see the flagship HTC phone as the lead product in the Windows Phone 8 marketing campaign. This is interesting given the focus Microsoft has put on Nokia and its Lumia handsets.
Nokia, in turn, has not taken kindly to HTC asserting itself as the face of Windows Phone 8. In a statement to the press, Nokia's head of marketing in the US, Chris Webber, has said the HTC launch is "more good news for the Windows Phone ecosystem", but also added: "While others may choose to tactically re-brand their products, Nokia is driving an industry-leading smartphone franchise - that we call Lumia - exclusively around Windows Phone. With Lumia, we are creating truly differentiated experiences like PureView imaging, location and navigation, wireless charging and Nokia Music."
Webber also tweeted: "Happy to add a new Signature to the Windows Phone ecosystem - behind the Lumia 920. #SwitchtoLumia"
"It takes more than matching colour to match the innovation of the Lumia 920. #SwitchtoLumia"
Stiff competition
HTC is following an aggressive rollout strategy for the new handsets, making them available through over 150 carriers in over 50 countries at the beginning of November - including MTN and Vodacom in SA. The Lumia 920 and 820 devices are also expected to go on sale in early November, but this is yet to be confirmed.
The success of Windows Phone 8 devices will be crucial to Microsoft as it tries to gain a foothold in the smartphone market currently dominated by Android and Apple.
Reuters quotes Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg as saying both HTC and Nokia were smart to distinguish their devices from the iPhone with bright colours: "The best thing about these device ranges is that neither looks like an iPhone."
According to Gartenberg, the competition between Nokia and HTC will also help generate some publicity around the Windows Phone 8 software.
Samsung also has a handset in play in the Windows Phone 8 space with the Ativ S, which it unveiled even before Nokia had a chance to show off its Windows Phone 8 Lumia handsets. The Ativ S has a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display and 8MP camera.
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