Samsung's first U.S.-based Windows Phone 8 handset, the Ativ Odyssey, launches on Verizon on Thursday with the rock-bottom price of $50 with a two-year contract and mail-in rebate.
Samsung is not as big a player as Nokia or HTC in the Windows Phone marketplace, but the Korean giant remains one of only four manufacturers aligned with Microsoft's Windows Phone division. Samsung is known for its flagship Android devices, so it's no surprise the Ativ Odyssey is a decidedly mid-range smartphone. It sports an 800 x 480 pixel four-inch display, a 5-megapixel rear camera and 8 GB of memory. It's 4G LTE capable and runs on the same 1.5-GHz dual-core processor as Windows Phone 8 counterparts like the Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC 8X. But the $50 price tag has it competing with Nokia's mid-range Lumia 822 on Verizon's network.
This will be Verizon's third Windows Phone 8 offering, joining the HTC 8X and the Lumia 822. The network is catching up with AT&T, which currently has the most robust Windows Phone device lineup.
