Windows Phone 7 devices by end of September?

We've been hearing a lot about Windows Phone 7, but one thing that hasn't been confirmed is when the devices will actually be available for purchase.

While Microsoft isn't stating official ship dates, it seems that LG is now on record saying that it will ship its first Windows Phone 7 device by end of September. LG is also stating that it's going to have more Windows Phone 7 smartphones available before the end of the year.

I have to say that I'm surprised to see that LG is the first mover on Windows Phone 7. With the developer handsets coming from Samsung, and HTC always being the first to market with the latest iteration of Windows Mobile, I figured it was a definite that HTC would be first. That said, the company still could be, and may have just not announced its release dates yet.

It will be interesting to see how well received Windows Phone 7 is. Microsoft has severely limited the amount of customization that a handset manufacturer and carrier can do to the device, which will be good and bad for the consumer. Good in the fact that the phones won't be as cluttered, but bad in the way that if you don't like the stock Windows Phone 7 interface, there's not going to be a lot of options for you to customize.

I happen to like HTC's Sense implementation on both Android and Windows Mobile, and was hoping to see something similar on Windows Phone 7. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions by Microsoft, HTC's options are limited. I'm still holding out hopes that the company can innovate, even in the smaller sandbox that it's going to be allowed to play in.

Now the big question is whether or not the public actually wants Windows Phone 7. I'm sure that the handsets will be heavily discounted, but it's still not clear why you would want a Windows Phone 7 device over the other competing platforms in the market.