Samsung “Mandel” LTE Windows Phone Poses For The Camera

Before Nokia’s Lumia 900 made its retail debut, we caught wind of another Windows Phone handset with some LTE support of its own, back when the Samsung SGH-i667 got its FCC certification in March. Known as codename Mandel, the smartphone appeared to be getting ready for service on AT&T’s network. All we knew about the phone at the time was that it was supposed to be something like Samsung’s earlier Focus S, but with a larger screen. Today we get what seems to be our first look at the handset, courtesy of both a photo of the phone’s back as well as a press render of its front.
From the render, at least, the Mandel certainly seems to have a screen a bit larger than the Focus S and its 4.3-inch display. It looks like this model is outfitted with just 8GB storage, perhaps putting it more in a class with the Focus Flash than the S. Just as we suspected would be the case from the frequency support the phone’s FCC docs revealed, AT&T badging is now present.
Right now, the big question seems to be whether or not Samsung will actually release this model as a current-gen Windows Phone device, or if it might shelve the hardware in expectation of higher-profile Apollo hardware arriving in just several months’ time.