Microsoft reportedly plans to unveil the first Windows Phone 7 smartphones on October 11.
The company will reveal smartphones made by Samsung, LG and HTC and announce an initial exclusive handset partnership with US carrier AT&T, internal sources told the Wall Street Journal.
AT&T plans to start selling the devices the week of November 8, the sources said. But All Things Digitalreported that devices would be in stores on October 21, and that Microsoft has signed another exclusive carrier partnership with Orange.
The company on Wednesday launched registration for app developers looking to take part in the advertising program for the new OS. WP7 developer tools and the advertising SDK launched earlier this month.
Microsoft is banking on the OS to stave off the erosion of its market share by competitors such as Apple and Google. Microsoft's share of the smartphone OS market fell nearly halved to 5% in Q2 from 9.6% the year before, according to Gartner.
Its slice of the market is down significantly from the 11.5% share it held around the time of the first iPhone's launch in 2007.
An attempt to address the declines with the launch of the Microsoft-branded Kin failed – Microsoft pulled the plug after poor sales of the youth-centric smartphone.
The open-source Android has so far proved more enticing to handset manufacturers and developers than Windows Phone's closed-garden approach.
Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer in June admitted the company had missed out on an entire cycle of the handset industry, but said that leadership changes within the Windows Phone software group should help aid a turnaround.
MORE ARTICLES ON: AT&T, HTC, LG, Microsoft, Orange, Samsung, Smartphones, Windows Phone 7