13/10/2010 By Evan Kessler ( Source: http://www.goingwimax.com )

Microsoft Keeping Windows Open for WiMax

Today is an historic day in the world of gadgetry; No it's not the day Christopher Columbus discovered GPS to help guide the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria to the New World or wherever he was going. It was on this day in 2010, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer launched his company's arsenal of Windows Phone 7 wireless devices. Much pomp and excitement was produced during the live stream conference which revealed 9 new phones from the likes of HTC, Dell, Samsung and LG Electronics that will run on the new Windows Phone 7 software. While there's no way of telling whether Windows phone 7 devices will be to Android what the Zune was to the iPod (not quite competition), we can surmise that at least one of the new phones will be wandering into WiMax territory fairly soon.

In the hours preceding the launch announcement, it was found that the network icon for 4G WiMax had already been included on Windows Phone 7 support pages. While the first round of phones is said to be a GSM launch, we can use our keen powers of deduction to guess that out of the 9 that were introduced today, the HTC 7 Pro– slated to be released to Sprint users early in 2011–could likely be WiMax-compatible. Five of the other Windows 7 phones will make their debut in the U.S. on the soonish side, with AT&T getting three and T-Mobile getting two. Since neither of those carriers have WiMax networks, it's probably safe to assume they're not yet cut out for 4G duty on such a network. So far it looks like HTC is continuing to lead the 4G WiMax phone market, as they're currently pushing the EVO to Sprint users. With this Windows Phone 7 device coming on down the line, Sprint's 4G users might be the first to decide if the new Microsoft operating system has any staying power.