AT&T Nabs First Windows Mobile 6.5 Smartphones: HTC PURE And Tilt 2

October 6th may still be officially a day away, but that's not stopping AT&T from getting the party started early. What party, you ask? The Windows Mobile 6.5 party, of course. In a joint announcement made today with HTC, the Tilt 2 and PURE will be the carrier's first two WinMo 6.5 handsets, and both are pretty stout on paper.

The PURE is a touchscreen-based phone, while the Tilt 2 relies on a tilting QWERTY slider approach. Both of the handsets support 3G browsing, HTC's own TouchFLO 3D interface and Windows Marketplace. WinMo 6.5 will also bring along an improved UI and Flash-supporting Web browser. As for pricing, the phones (which are hitting retail stores now) will sell for $149.99 (PURE) and $299.99 (Tilt 2). That's including a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year agreement on a $69.99+ phone plan. A steep entry point for sure, but did you really expect the first AT&T Windows Mobile 6.5 phones to hit the bargain basket right out of the chute?

HTC Tilt 2
Designed for the business professional, the HTC Tilt 2 is designed with distinct style and strength while delivering the most powerful productivity experience available on a mobile phone. The HTC Tilt 2 features a high-resolution 3.6-inch widescreen WVGA display which can be easily tilted for an expanded viewing area and a large QWERTY keyboard, which is optimized for heavy email use. A quality speakerphone experience is enabled by dual speakers and dual microphones with advanced noise cancellation, and HTC's Straight Talk™ which allows for simplified conference calling and activation of the speakerphone by simply turning over the device. The HTC Tilt 2 also features a 3.2 megapixel camera.

HTC PURE
Leveraging HTC's TouchFLO 3D experience, the all touch screen HTC PURE offers an advanced touch experience that is optimized for one-hand use, which further evolves the compact smartphone design. Incorporating a large, brilliant 3.2-inch WVGA touch screen, the HTC PURE is crafted to fit perfectly into the hand and accentuates one's sense of style. With a crisp advanced five megapixel auto-focus camera with video capture, expandable memory, gravity sensor and an ambient light sensor, the HTC PURE brings many of the most sophisticated features to a broad consumer audience looking for the professional benefits of a smartphone, without sacrificing size, looks or functionality.

"The HTC Tilt 2 and HTC PURE are not only powerhouse devices, they also provide a natural simplicity in the way we communicate with the people in our lives whether through voice, text or email," said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. "Our desire is to put people at the center of every mobile experience, and we are pleased to work with AT&T, who shares this common vision."