U.S. Cellular, one of the smaller operators with just over 6.1 million customers, has announced that they’re now offering customers the HTC 7 Pro. It’s the first Windows Phone that does CDMA, and when we reviewed it back in April we weren’t really convinced it was the right device for us. Since then however we’ve seen a preview of Mango, the huge software update Microsoft is set to release this coming fall that introduces new features such as third party multitasking, a new browser based on the same code as Internet Explorer 9, and a plethora of new APIs that developers can take advantage of when building their apps. Anyway, let’s get to the nitty gritty details: the HTC 7 Pro is going to cost you $300 when you pick one up from the shop, but you’ll get a $100 mail in rebate that will arrive sometime between the week after you mail it in and your funeral. You need to sign up for a 2 year contract, no surprise there, and you’ll be required to have a data plan.
Frankly, you’re better off buying this thing from Sprint, who calls it the HTC Arrive. You can pick it up for $0.01, yes, just a penny, from Amazon.com and it even comes with free shipping. You just have to ask yourself now if you’re willing to commit to Windows Phone. It’s new, amazingly less than a year old, it’s pretty, with a user interface that looks nothing like anything that has come before in the smartphone market, but it’s Microsoft, meaning you’ll be tied to using Bing this, Bing that, Hotmail this, MSN that, instead of the services which you already use, which are most likely done by Google.
But hey, if you’re bored of Android already, and refuse to go iPhone on sheer principle, then give Windows Phone a shot and let us know how you like it!