Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

HTC, Nokia to offer first LTE Windows Phones on AT&T

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made a surprise appearance at AT&T's Developer Summit on Monday

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made a surprise appearance at AT&T's Developer Summit Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show to say that the operator would be the first to offer LTE Windows Phones, including the HTC Titan II and a phone from Nokia.

"We're thrilled to announce the first LTE Windows Phones in the U.S. on AT&T's network," Ballmer said. The Titan II will have a 16-megapixel camera, offering better resolution than even many stand-alone cameras.

Many people had expected that Nokia, which is holding a press conference later in the day, would deliver the first Windows Phone LTE device. Stephen Elop, Nokia's CEO who also made an appearance at the AT&T event, said he'd share more information about its first LTE Windows Phone at the press event. He also said the company will talk more about its reentry strategy in the U.S., where the world's largest phone maker has scant market share.

Ballmer promoted the differences between Windows Phone, which is widely praised by reviewers yet lags seriously behind competitors in sales, and other phone platforms. Specifically, he noted that Windows Phone lets developers incorporate social and other features into apps so that users don't have to open multiple apps constantly.

He also said that there are 300 apps being published daily in the Windows Phone Marketplace.

AT&T also announced six new Android devices that will run on its LTE network, including the Samsung Galaxy Note and a waterproof tablet from Pantech.

The Galaxy Note is midway between a tablet and a phone with a 5.3-inch screen. AT&T is the first to sell the device, which comes in blue and white, in the U.S. In addition to its size, the Note is unique in that it comes with a pen for controlling the device.

"This pen is not a stylus," said Kevin Packingham, a Samsung product manager. The pen allows for drawing very fine lines on the screen and enables more exact controls, he said.

AT&T will also offer the Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD, another Android phone with a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor and a removable battery.

The Samsung Exhilerate, which is made partly with recyclable materials, will also become available from AT&T.

The operator also unveiled devices from Pantech, including the Element, a waterproof tablet. AT&T is offering a deal where people can buy the tablet and the Pantech Burst phone for US$250. Otherwise, the Burst will cost under $50, AT&T said.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy's e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: AT&T, AT&T, Consumer Electronics, etwork, Galaxy, HTC, IDG, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung
References show all

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: AT&T Wireless, CES, htc, Microsoft, mobile
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • Optimised Data Protection for VMware® Environments with Symantec NetBackup™ Appliances
    VMware® remains the most widely deployed virtualisation solution. The explosive growth of VMware infrastructure in organisations both large and small has enabled corporations to more fully exploit their hardware investments. With multiple virtual machines running on few physical hardware nodes, hardware costs are reduced, as well as space, power, and cooling requirements. This white paper discusses in more detail how VMware environments can be protected with the NetBackup appliances. Read more.
    Learn more »
  • IDC Forecast: Worldwide Purpose - Built Backup Appliance 2011 – 2015, Forecast Update: Explosive Growth in 2011
    This IDC Forecast Update provides share positions for revenue and raw capacity for nine named PBBA vendors for the first half of 2011. In addition, this study provides the market size and a five-year forecast for the worldwide PBBA market as part of IDC's Storage Solutions coverage. The five-year forecast includes total factory revenue and raw capacity in terabytes through 2012. The worldwide PBBA market covers both open system-and mainframe-attached products.
    Learn more »
  • The State of Data Security
    Recognize how your data can become vulnerable, including the latest issues stemming from unprotected data on mobile devices and social media sites. Understand the compliance issues involved, and identify data protection strategies you can use to keep your company’s information both safe and compliant.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.