Acer, Fujitsu And ZTE Are Preparing A “Mango Phone” (Windows Phone 7)

Yes, it is hard to resist food related jokes when it comes to Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone update. But that aside, it is attracting quite a few new hardware partners for Microsoft.

Microsoft Gains More Hardware Partners For WP7

Microsoft has confirmed that the companies — Acer, Fujitsu and the ZTE group — have Windows Phone 7 Mango phones in development. This is going to give the Redmond tech giant the right boost to get more market share. Hello Google and Apple!

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 already has the support of Samsung, Dell, HTC and LG when it comes to hardware. Microsoft has been pretty tight-lipped about what these companies are intending to release but said that they will (together) allow Microsoft to reach out to a wider global audience and also a wider price range.

The spokesperson for Microsoft on this one was Andy Lees, Microsoft Mobile Communications President, and he said that a Nokia WP7 device is almost ready for release and a Skype app for WP7 is on the way.

Mango Phone Coming This Year (Fall)

Mango is expected to be available later this year (fall) and that is when all of these new devices are expected to be launched. However, the software update will likely be released earlier for current Windows Phone 7 owners and it will be a free upgrade.

Microsoft so far has teamed up with a lot of partners that cover most of the major global markets, including the North American Markets, Major European markets and the diverse Asian markets through partners like Nokia, Samsung, LG, ZTE, Acer, etc.

With more models, it is essential that Microsoft increase numbers of apps. Current estimates say there are 17,000 apps available so far. The company is already working on it though and the beta version of the Windows Phone Developer Tools has been available for quite some time now. However, it will be a while before they catch up to Apple (over 500,000 apps).