Device manufacturer HTC and software giant Microsoft unveiled Brazil’s first Windows Phone 7.5-powered device at a press conference in São Paulo. The device, dubbed the HTC Ultimate, will be offered through Brazilian operator Vivo.
“Brazil is a strategic country. We plan to sell 16 million smartphones next year,” said Lee Ittner, VP for Latin America at HTC.
“At the begging we are focusing on the consumer market, but we know that they will bring device to corporate environment, what is called the consumerization phenomenon,” said Cristina Palmaka, director for consumer channels at Microsoft Brazil. The device is expected to face stiff competition in Brazil’s enterprise market from entrenched incumbent Research In Motion and its BlackBerry line.
The HTC Ultimate launch has been in the works for almost a year, said executives. Vivo, which is part of Spain-based Telefónica, will have exclusive access to the Ultimate for the first few months. “We started talks with Microsoft one year ago and we wanted to launch in Brazil the best version of Windows Phone,” said Hilton Mendes, director at Vivo.
“This is one more chapter in Microsoft’s history in the mobile range. We’ve been working for more than ten years to build the ecosystem,” added Microsoft’s Palmaka.
Vivo currently covers 1,550 communities with 3G services, and plans to expand to 2,832 communities – or 85% of Brazil’s total population – by December. Microsoft counts 2 million smartphones sold in Brazil with its operating system.
The HTC Ultimate includes a 4.7-inch screen, 1.5 GHz processor, 8-megapixel camera and HTC’s Hub service. It is ready for HSPA, WCDMA; operates in 850/1900/2100 MHz and it is quadriband (GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz).
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