Windows Phone 7 Could Hit UK On 21 October

Leaked documents from UK operator 3 suggest that Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, which launches today, will be in the shops on 21 October.

A Windows Phone 7 device, apparently made by Samsung, appears in a 3 roadmap leaked to Gizmodo, along with predictions there will be 2,000 apps available at the launch.

Make or break for Microsoft

Windows Phone 7 is a departure from previous Windows Mobile operating systems, which have not fared well against BlackBerry, iPhone and Android. Instead of displaying a set of apps, the operating system groups things according to function on a touchscreen.

The OS was completed in September, and US sources have predicted a delivery date of November, after the launch today. But it has emerged that the US will get the phones later than Europe, and all five major UK networks have signed up for it. Attention has focused on issues such as whether the phones will allow “tethering”: sharing their mobile data with a connected PC.

Microsoft will be spending £250 million marketing the new OS, and Samsung is the leading phone make to support it, alongside its own Bada OS and Android. The phone on the leaked document appears to be a Samsung, from its 4 in diagonal Super AMOLED display.

The leak also suggests the result of Microsoft’s efforts to encourage developers onto the platform is about “2,000 apps”. This is far short of the number on Android or iPhone but, as Gizmodo says “we don’t know why Microsoft’s been so shy about that number – 2,000 good apps are more than enough.”