Microsoft’s new Smartphone operating system is already out in Europe, and due out in the US next year, but there’s still been no announcement of who the handset makers will be or what cellular service providers will offer it. One clue to what might be the first US Smartphone is the fact that just recently Taiwanese electronics company Compal received approval from the FCC for a Smartphone-powered cellphone. The Compal Smartphone runs on the GSM and GPRS networks, which means that it could potentially work with AT&T Wireless, Cingular, or T-Mobile’s service. The official word, at least according to my source at Microsoft, is that “several device manufacturers – Compal, Samsung, HTC to name a few – are battling to be the first to bring a Windows-powered Smartphone to market in the US. Right now it’s too soon to call which Microsoft partner manufacturer along with which mobile operator that will be.”
