Samsung To Launch Its First Microsoft Mango Phone From Late Oct

Samsung Electronics, the world's second-biggest handset maker, said on Monday that it will release its first smartphone based on the latest version of Microsoft Corp's mobile operating system starting in Italy from the end of October.

Samsung, the top seller of Google's Android phones, has adopted a multiplatform strategy, rolling out smartphones also running on Microsoft's software and its own proprietary "bada" software.

Samsung said in a statement that its Omnia W, which runs the latest release of Windows Phone, code-named Mango, features a 3.7-inch AM-OLED display and a 1.4 GHz processor. It will be gradually rolled to globally including Europe, CIS, Latin America, Africa, South East and South West Asia.

A Samsung spokeswoman said the date for a US rollout has not been decided yet.

Microsoft launched an update of its Windows phone software in May, hoping a host of new features will help it close the gap on smartphone leaders Google Inc and Apple Inc.

Meanwhile, Samsung said on Sunday that sales of its Android smartphone Galaxy S 2 had topped 10 million units in five months, making it the company's fastest-selling phone.

Samsung also unveiled two LTE versions of its Galaxy S 2 smartphones in South Korea on Monday, seeking to keep alive its smartphone momentum and to step up challenge against Apple's iPhone.

Smartphone sales are one of few bright spots in the businesses of Samsung, which also leads global sales of memory chips, flat-panel screens and TVs.

Solid smartphone sales are expected to lead to higher-than-expected earnings for Samsung during the July to September period, analysts said.