14 DAY TRIAL // As expected, Dell Venue Pro smartphone is going to be released in Canada through Rogers, around March 17th.
We reported last month that the device had been approved by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) with WCDMA Band II and V support, which is exactly what is needed for the device to land on all major carriers such as AT&T, Telus, Bell or Rogers.
According to MobileSyrup, citing anonymous sources, Dell’s Venue Pro should be available at Rogers Canada starting with March 17th.
The price of the device was leaked three weeks ago when an internal Rogers document indicated that the smartphone will be available for $599.99 unlocked or $149.99 with a new three-year contract.
However, it seems that the carrier has since decided to slash Venue Pro's initial price to $499.99 unclocked and $99.99 with a new three-year contract, respectively.
Even though this information hasn't been confirmed yet, it seems more than likely that Microsoft is trying to get a fair share of the market in North America by reducing the price of Windows Phone 7 devices.
Unfortunately, up until now, Microsoft has recorded low sales for smartphones running its latest mobile platform, although several carriers offered great deals for these phones, some even giving the devices for free with a contract.
Dell Venue Pro was initially one of the most expected WM7 phone, but the manufacturer delayed the launch of the phone globally to the point that customers lost interest and turned their attention to newer and “more available” smartphones.
The device is one of the few WM7 slider phones and features a large 4.1-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 16 million colors support and 480 x 800 pixels resolution.
The phone meets Microsoft's hardware requirements, thus it is powered by a single 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, complemented by an Adreno 200 GPU. It also packs 8GB internal storage and 512 MB RAM, as well as a microSD card slot.