14 DAY TRIAL // September has been long rumored to be the launch month for new handsets running under Microsoft's Windows Phone Mango operating system, and handset vendors already started to make their new devices official, though only few smartphones have been unveiled until now.
Of course, the month has just begun, but we were certainly expecting for more Windows Phone Mango handsets to be showcased at the IFA 2011 show in Berlin.
Softpedia's editors on the floor at the event managed to put their hands on three Windows Phone devices, of which only two were newly unveiled handsets.
To be more precise, the HTC TITAN and HTC Radar smartphones that were officially introduced on September 1st have been both spotted at the event.
Just as its name suggests, the HTC TITAN is a large Windows Phone handset that packs a fast 1.5GHz application processor, 16GB of internal memory and an 8MP camera on the back. You can see more of it in our hands-on here.
As for the HTC Radar, it should be launched as an affordable piece of hardware, packing a 3.8-inch touchscreen display, 8GB of internal memory, 5MP photo snapper and a front facing camera for video calling. Our IFA 2011 hands-on with this device can be seen here.
The third Mango handset spotted at the event in Berlin was the Acer W4, also a mid-range phone, which sports a 3.6-inch screen and a fast 1GHz application processor, along with 8GB of internal memory. Have a look at our hands-on here.
Rather disappointing, no other Microsoft partner brought along new devices running under Mango, although they were expected to unveil such smartphones ever since the end of May.
Samsung and Dell were two companies believed at that time to launch Mango handsets, and Nokia is yet another company set to bring to the market such phones in the near future.
However, none of them brought a Windows Phone to IFA 2011. Samsung was present on the floor at the conference with its new Android-based devices, including the Galaxy Note, Galaxy S II LTE and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE, while Nokia showcased Symbian Anna and Symbian Belle smartphones.
Although Windows Phone is less than a year old and has only a small market share to enjoy, we were expecting for Microsoft and its partners to try to raise awareness on it, and an event such as IFA might have been just the place to do that.
HTC announced that its Mango phones will hit the shelves only in October, and more such devices might be unveiled in the meantime, especially with the Mango software update expected to arrive on existing handsets in two weeks or so.
