Overland Park, Kan. — Sprint is finally jumping on the Windows Phone 8 bandwagon with the planned summertime launches of its first two Windows Phone 8 smartphones, the HTC 8XT at $99 and Samsung Ativ S Neo at $149.
The carrier said it will announce precise availability dates and a full feature list for both 4G LTE smartphones at a later date.
The HTC 8XT brings dual front-facing speakers for the first time to a Windows phone, Sprint said. HDR recording uses dual microphones and audio processing to record stereo sound. Other key features include Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with 1.4GHz dual-core CPUs, 1080p video capture, 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM, 64GB MicroSD slot, 4.3-inch display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and 1,800 mAh lithium-ion battery. It also features 8-megapixel main camera with autofocus, LED flash and 1080p video capture.
Other phone features include front-facing 1.6-megapixel camera, multishot burst mode, and a dedicated Windows Phone camera button to open the camera even when the phone is locked or sleeping.
Samsung’s Ativ S Neo offer 1.4GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, MicroSD slot, international roaming, 4.8-inch high-definition display, Wi-Fi and 2,000 mAh lithium-ion removable battery. It also features Ativ Beam, which uses nearfield communications (NFC) technology to tap other Windows phones and select Android phones to share photos, music and video.
Ativ S Neo has Samsung’s Now feature, which highlights top news, weather and relevant information at a single glance.
Other Ativ S Neo features include 8-megapixel main camera with LED flash, front-facing 1.9-megapixel camera for video chat, and multiple preloaded camera apps. The apps include Beauty Shot mode to provide smoother-looking skin in headshots and Manga Camera, which turns turn people into cartoon characters. A built-in Photo Editor lets users edit and decorate shots.
