During a recent interview, AT&T’s senior vice president of mobile devices, Jeff Bradley, shed some light on what his company’s future handset plans look like. Speaking with PCMag, Bradley had several interesting things to say — specifically concerning the Android and Windows Phone platforms. First, the company plans to launch a new, ruggedized Pantech Android handset in the beginning of June. The VP noted that it was a “cool little device” and resembles a “[Casio] G-Shock” that is “more durable than a classic side-slider.” Second, and perhaps more interestingly, Bradley stated that AT&T will remove its third-party app store restrictions — allowing users to download applications hosted outside of the official Google Market. Moving on to Windows Phone, Bradley said that HTC’s HD7S would be “coming soon” and that the next round of Windows Phone handsets would be based on Microsoft’s updated chassis requirements. The next-wave of hardware is also slated to ship with the Mango software update, which will be known as Windows Phone 7.5. “We’re working very, very actively with the ecosystem and Microsoft,” quipped the VP.
