HTC Corp. unveiled two smartphones running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Phone 8 software and said the devices would be available in November with several operators around the world.
The two brightly colored devices - the Windows Phone 8X and the Windows Phone 8S - will pitch HTC directly against Microsoft's main partner Nokia, which also unveiled two phones based on the Windows software earlier this month.
However, while Nokia did not name any customers for its devices, HTC said theirs would go on sale at three of the top four U.S. mobile operators - Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile. It also said several operators in Europe and Asia agreed to sell the devices.
HTC is under pressure to generate strong sales from its next round of smartphones as it has been losing ground to Samsung and Apple. Until now, HTC has been betting on its One series of phones but so far sales of those phones have failed to keep pace with the iPhone and Galaxy.
Until the second half of 2011, former contract smartphone maker HTC had built a strong brand with phones based on Android software.
