Ever since Microsoft released its development tools for Windows Phone 7 Mango, we’ve been wondering when coders would finally get the chance to try out their creations on some real hardware. Microsoft has been having some trouble coming up with a satisfactory way to let developers flash their existing WP7 smartphones with Mango; when it finally does work that out, a good portion of the problem of getting Mango into the hands of developers will be solved. The remaining issue will be the new hardware supported under Mango, and the lack of it on existing WP7 devices. If developers need to test out apps reliant on the new hardware features, they’ll need some smartphones built with Mango in mind. According to the latest rumor, Microsoft could start providing such handsets as soon as next week.

Just last week Microsoft reaffirmed its commitment to seeing that there’s a developer’s model available for testing code on real hardware. We still don’t know exactly what specs the devices will feature; they could be something like the HTC Mazaa, or maybe even hardware we’ve yet to hear of.

Availability of Mango developer handsets next week would line up with the “around four weeks time” Microsoft estimated for the smartphones’ arrival back on May 24. We can’t wait to see what they bring to the table, since this will mark the first time we’ll be able to see Mango in action on hardware outside of a press event.

Source: WinRumors