Nokia Already Testing Windows Phone 7 Handsets

Reports have indicated that Nokia is testing two prototype handsets running Windows Phone 7.

The two handsets that Nokia is reportedly testing are said to be running a forthcoming version of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) operating system.

Mango is due out later this year and it aims to close the gaps with Android and Apple’s iOS in a number of core areas. Despite Microsoft experiencing some problems recently in rolling out an update to its mobile OS, Mango is said to offer better multitasking and improved web browsing.

W7 And W8

Nokia has previously said that it intends to have Windows Phone 7 handsets out by 2012, but latest indications are that the Finnish handset giant could be looking to bring these handsets to market before the end of the year, as it seeks to regain lost ground.

Nokia has only just formally signed its partnership deal with Microsoft, announced in February, for the use of the Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system.

According to Russian blogger Eldar Murtazin, regarded as something of an industry source, the two Nokia handsets have been dubbed the W7 and W8. The first handset to market is expected to be the W7 prototype, which will be based on the Nokia X7 that has just been released.

The W8 will use the N8 at its starting point.

On his blog (in Russian) Murtazin said that W7 will feature a first generation 1GHz Snapdragon QSD8250 processor, a capacitive touch screen that has a 4-inch AMOLED display, and an 8 MP camera with LED flash

Signs Are There

According to an interview with Nokia executive vice president Kai Oistamo and Microsoft phone unit President Andy Lees on All Things Digital, Nokia is confident that things are ahead of schedule and that considerable progress has been made since the February announcement in London.

“We’ve gotten to where we have gotten to faster than we thought,” Lees said. “Now we know who is exactly writing each piece of code.”

Both men said that in order to get to this point, there had been many conference calls, emails and meetings, as well as visits between Finland and Redmond.

Oistamo, meanwhile, said he was pleased with the technical work that has taken place in the past 60 days – including getting the first Nokia hardware running Microsoft’s operating system.

“A contract is just a contract,” Oistamo reportedly said. “The real thing is about creating something jointly together. The products are not done yet. But you can already see the signs. Everything that we talked conceptually with you in London is actually coming into real fruition.”

Meanwhile despite throwing its weight behind Windows Phone 7, Nokia remains publicly committed to support its Symbian OS through at least 2014. The company’s roadmap features new Symbian phones hitting the market in 2011 and 2012.