World’s first Windows Phone Mango handset launches in hours

After much ado, waiting, impatience, and in the end, early delivery, the Mango update to the Windows Phone platform is about to hit the streets. In just a few hours, on Thursday morning in Japan, the Fujitsu IS12T will go on sale, marking the start of the second wave of Windows Phone hardware and software.

That the IS12T is the first Windows Phone Mango handset to go on sale is somewhat fitting, as the phone is also Japan’s first WP7 handset. Mango brings with it expanded language support that makes the phone line usable in countries in which it was previously not.

This could grant the mobile line a larger sales opportunity, provided the phones find resonance with the new countries they are being sold in.

We’ll include the press release at the bottom of this post, but let us refresh your memory as to what the Fujitsu handset contains. Up front, it was introduced to the world in passing as a waterproof phone. That wasn’t exactly correct, the phone is merely water-resistant. But it does have hardware specifications that set it apart from other Windows Phone devices that we have seen thus far in the market: It has a 13.2 megapixel camera, and has 32 gigabytes of internal storage.

It’s 2:30 in the morning in Japan at the moment, on Thursday, so in just a few hours the phone will be officially ‘on sale.’ If we get any reports of high, or low sales, we will bring you that information. The press release follows the image:

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Japan’s first Windows® Phone 7.5 smartphone, equipped with water-resistant technology

Tokyo, August 23, 2011 — Fujitsu today announced that the new Windows® Phone IS12T smartphone from Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications will be available in Japan beginning August 25, 2011, through KDDI Corporation and Okinawa Cellular Telephone Company.

Windows® Phone IS12T is the first smartphone in Japan to run Windows® Phone 7.5. Designed to be simple and easy-to-use, the smartphone is equipped with essential features, including fully integrated social media capabilities such as Facebook and Twitter, a video and audio player, and a variety of other entertainment applications. In addition, the IS12T comes with 32GB of built-in memory and a 13.2 megapixel camera that is among the top of its class in smartphones.

The smartphone, which features water-resistant (IPX5/8) and dust-resistant (IP5X) technology(1), provides users with full access to Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel®, and PowerPoint®.