Samsung gets official with Windows Phone 7-based smartphones

It looks like we have some news about Windows Phone 7 smartphone models well ahead of October 11 with the announcement that Samsung has truly committed to using Microsoft's WP7 mobile operating system.

According to the release, Samsung has decided to take on the WP7 platform and make it "a key component" of the company's smartphone portfolio. Devices running WP7 will start being rolled out this year before the end of the 2010 holiday shopping season.

Given the worldwide popularity of the Samsung Galaxy S series, this is certainly a boost in the right direction for Microsoft. Hopefully we'll be seeing these devices and more at the big unveiling in less than two weeks.

I'm especially interested to see what HTC can follow up with after a stellar year filled with the Droid Incredible, Evo 4G and the Desire, among many, many other releases.