It’s Official — HD2 from T-Mobile; WM 7 Announcement Expected

This past week T-Mobile officially announced that it will be releasing the HTC HD2 in the spring. In this column we’ll also look ahead to the coming of Windows Mobile 7 — and the sad fact that it may be too late, given the Android surge. Plus, I’ll point you to an unboxing and hardware tour of the new Nexus One Android phone from Google.

HD2 Coming to T-Mobile

The HTC HD2, with its 4.3-inch screen and finger-friendly HTC Sense interface, is one of the most-anticipated devices in a while. And it’s now official that it’s coming to T-Mobile this spring.

The phone has a capacitive display like the iPhone, meaning that it responds to an electrostatic touch rather than pressure, making multi-touch possible. It has a 1GHz processor and will be able to take advantage of T-Mobile’s 3G network.

You can sign up to receive updates from T-Mobile about the device here.

WMExperts posted a thorough review of the HD2 last week, including images and a sample video taken by the phone. The bottom line: “I found the HD2 very comfortable, and the large 4.3-inch screen a joy to use.” Note, though, that this is a review of a non-U.S. version.

News on Windows Mobile 7

The big Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week didn’t have much to feature in the way of Windows Mobile news, but according to a short article on ZDNet, Microsoft’s Robbie Bach indicated in an interview that Windows Mobile 7 will be announced and on display at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.

You can read a transcript of the interview on WMPoweruser. It gives you a good sense of the place of Windows Mobile in the current smartphone market.

Also breaking at CES was the news that LG would begin selling Windows Mobile 7 devices later this year, according to a post on Engadget. Microsoft is rapidly losing gournd in the smartphone space, so it’s welcome news that LG has committed to Windows Mobile 7 and that at least one carrier is planning to have the device out this year.

To get an idea of how Windows Mobile is lagging, look at the second chart posted in this article on the ChangeWaveResarch website about the surging Android platform. It shows the percentage, by platform, that consumers are intending to buy based on surveys in September and December 2009. The iPhone is leading but Android is really jumping up. As of December 28% said they were planning to get an iPhone, 21% said an Android phone, 18% said Blackberry, and 6% said Windows Mobile.

Reviews of Google Nexus One

We mostly cover Windows Mobile, but Android is generating so much excitement that I want to give that a bit of ongoing coverage. Google’s Nexus One came out last week to a lot of fanfare.

You can buy an unlocked version for $529 or get a subsidized phone via T-Mobile at $179. According to this page on Google, it will be coming to Verizon in the spring.

PocketNow has posted an unboxing video and a hardware tour video of this phone.