Samsung To Launch Three Windows Phones This Year: Will The Company’s Next Hybrid Devices Outshine Nokia’s & HTC’s Biggest Bets?

Samsung has always given a commendable competition to every single wireless device manufacturers, including Apple, with constant introduction of spectacular replacement devices at considerably low prices. Whether it is Samsung Galaxy S2 against iPhone 4S or Samsung Galaxy Tab against other Android tablets in the market, the South Korean giant has always given a stiff rivalry to other brand in the wireless world.

Continuing the lineage, now the innovative smartphone manufacturer is coming up with its next hybrid to sweep over the Windows phone market, which is currently overpowered by Nokia and HTC smartphones.

According to the latest reports, Chinese website WPDang has claimed that Samsung is planning to release three new Windows Phone handsets in the second half of 2012.

Out of the three Windows phones, one of the new devices will be the Samsung Mandel SGH-i667, which is rumored to feature LTE connectivity, and a WVGA display. Further it is expected to run Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh (aka Tango).

As for the other two new smartphones from Samsung, details on them are still scarce, but rumor has it that they might be launched with Windows Phone 8 on board.

The report has also noted that the Mandel is expected to be announced for AT&T's network although till now there is no firm timeline for when it is expected to be released in the market.

Samsung's previous Windows Phones included Focus S and Focus Flash, both on AT&T's HSPA+ network (not AT&T's 4G LTE). Focus Flash in particular was a budget offering, going for just $49.99 on a two-year contract. But at the same time, Focus S was a lot more about breakthrough specs and features at a price of $199. And if it is to be believed, Samsung's Focus S is still been considered as a tough rival for the recently released Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II.

Samsung Focus S came packed with all the high-end specifications, with a solid hardware on the board and sported a very thin form factor. Measuring at just 8.5 millimeters, the device came pre-installed with the new Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS, sporting a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, powered by a 1.4GHz single-core processor, equipped with a front facing 1.3-megapixel camera to make video calls, a rear facing 8-megapixel HD camera, 4G (HSPA+) connectivity. Further, it was equipped with all the regular features of a Windows Phone including a micro USB 2.0, 802.11 Wi-Fi b/g/n connectivity and others.

HTC Titan II, which has released recently, a year after Samsung Focus S, runs Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS and has a bigger 4.7-inch display with 480 X 800 pixels of resolution. The device comes powered with a 1.5GHz Snapdragon single-core processor, equipped with a whopping 16 megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash, fast wide-angle lens (f2.6, 28mm), an additional front-facing 1.3 megapixels camera to make video calls, 720p HD video recording capability. Further, it has the breakthrough 4G LTE connectivity as an advantage.

Nokia's biggest bet for this year - Lumia 900 - has also managed to achieve an attractive price point for the features on offer, as the handset would be released in the US market on April 8 through the one the fastest carriers - AT&T - at a price of approximately $100.

When it comes to Nokia Lumia 900 features, it has been powered by the new Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS and has a 4.3-inch Clear Black AMOLED display with 480 X 800 pixels of resolution.

Further, it comes clocked with 1.4GHz single-core processor and 512MB of RAM to keep things running. The device is also equipped with an 8 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera with autofocus and dual LED flash and has a 16 GB internal memory storage with battery life of 1800 mAh battery.

It is also packed with other features, including NFC functionality, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, SkyDrive integration, Internet Explorer 9 access, micro-USB 2.0, and a whole host of Windows Phone services. And above all, Lumia 900 is also backed 4G LTE technology.

Hence, it is clear that Samsung Focus S lagged behind in features like 4G LTE and the 16 megapixel camera. Samsung Electronics coming out with three Windows phones definitely makes sense and industry experts assume that these new offerings from the company in three different specifications and price points would actually stun the biggest bets of Nokia and HTC.

Which of the three Windows phone manufacturers is going to win the race? Do share your views.