Not Just Nokia Lumia Have Windows

5 Impressive Windows Phone Powered Smartphones

Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile OS has gained a lot of mileage in the last couple of weeks, courtesy Nokia unveiling its Lumia 800 smartphone. While the Lumia 800 is an impressive device, That’s not the beginning and the end of mobile phones based on Microsoft's Windows Phone platform. There are a couple of other Windows Phone powered smartphones just out in the market or waiting to get launched, which also deserve attention.

Here we take a look at five such Windows Phone powered smartphones that aren't the Nokia Lumia 800.

HTC Phones To Get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in 2012

Owners of HTC phones will have to wait until early 2012 for their device's mobile OS to be upgraded to Google's Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0. In a post to its Facebook page, HTC wrote not just mobile phones with fast multi-core microprocessor chip architectures would get Android 4.0, but also HTC phones with fast single-core processors, such as the HTC Sensation XL.

The HTC Sensation, Sensation XL and Sensation XE were named as the first HTC smartphones lined up for the Ice Cream Sandwich update early next year, as well as the HTC Rezound, HTC Evo 3D, EVO Design 4G, and Amaze 4G, which will receive the update over the air "through close integration with our carrier partners," HTC says. The new HTC Vivid is also on the upgrade list.

HTC Rezound
That will leave some HTC smartphone owners happy, but several models are missing from that list. Users whose phones aren't on the list shouldn't worry too much, at least not yet, and instead "stay tuned for more updates on device upgrades, timing and other details about Ice Cream Sandwich," HTC said.
Android 4.0 is meant to be Google's OS that bridges the smartphone and tablet gap -- which is currently served by two different versions of the OS. Ice Cream Sandwich refreshes the navigation methods on Android phones by removing the need for the hardware navigation buttons, as well as a sleeve of improvements and gimmicks.
The first phone to run Android 4.0 will be Google's Galaxy Nexus, manufactured by Samsung. The phone sports a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, a huge 4.65-inch curved glass display, and NFC capabilities. Google is also working on the update for the Galaxy Nexus S, but those with a Nexus One are out of luck.
Motorola promised to upgrade the Droid Razr and Bionic, as well as its Xoom tablet to Ice Cream Sandwich, but the exact timing is unclear -- some six weeks after the official release of the update from Google. LG and Sony also hinted at Android 4.0 updates for their high-end phones, but no solid details are available on that yet.