Windows Mobile 7 coming to HTC HD2

Microsoft has hinted that the HTC HD2 will be one of just a few devices currently available that will be given a Windows Mobile 7 upgrade in the future.

While the tech giant hasn’t said so directly, its discussion of issues surrounding hardware and software suggest that the HTC HD2 is a prime candidate for the style of the upcoming operating system. The HD2 was perhaps our favourite Windows Mobile device of 2009, so we think it’s a device that has hardware worth investing in.

Here’s the full quote from Microsoft marketing man Greg Sullivan that led to Betanews coming to these conclusions:

"Our fragmentation issue is primarily around screen resolutions and assuming a minimum CPU and storage. So it has been a little bit challenging, because that choice, that flexibility, that freedom that people have to build any kind of device and use any kind of device: touch, non-touch, keyboard, soft key, has required a little bit extra effort in some cases for developers to target apps that run across a wide array of devices,” Sullivan said.

But the (HTC) HD2 is a great early example of our new approach…We’ve got capacitive and multi-touch support in a Windows Phone, and that’s because we did the platform work while working very closely with HTC to do the hardware/software integration.”

So how are we having our cake and eating it too? We’re going to continue the horizontal market, but work very closely with our hardware partners to provide more guidance on the platform so we don’t have nine different display sizes that independent software vendors have to target…maybe just two…

We’re going to continue investing in the user experience, and the legacy pocket PC 1999 UI that still kind of shows up if you drill down pretty deep? that’s another thing that’s changed."