It's sort of surprising that this one feature gets so much traction, but it's true: copy and paste is a big deal. It's something that computers have had for years, but some of the most modern smartphone operating systems still lack it. Windows Phone 7 didn't ship with copy and paste, but it looks like that's changing. The
HTC Arrive, which is the first Windows Phone 7 device to ship on
Sprint's CDMA network, will indeed have copy and paste at launch. That very functionality has yet to come to
WP7 phones on AT&T and T-Mobile USA, but this seems like a clear indication that the Arrive is only the first of many WP7 phones to soon support it.
This particular phone will sell for $199.99 on a 2-year contract, and will become available this Sunday. In addition to C&P, the phone will also feature a faster start-up and resume time for apps/games and a streamlined Marketplace search function. It's hard to say if this will be the WP7 device that springboards the platform into mass adoption here in America, but having a feature that the other major OSes already have is a really, really good start.