Windows 10 found on a new smartphone

The Chinese smartphone maker confirms it is
making a Windows 10 phone that will debut
before year's end.
Microsoft shows off a preview of Windows 10
for phones.
LAS VEGAS -- Alcatel OneTouch has Microsoft's
back.

The Chinese company known for its low-cost phones
will make a smartphone running Microsoft's Windows

10 software, which launched just over a month ago
on PCs and tablets. It plans to unveil a Windows 10
smartphone before year's end, Steve Cistulli, Alcatel
OneTouch's senior vice president for North America,
said in an interview here Thursday at the CTIA
wireless trade show.
"We are very supportive of the Windows ecosystem,"
Cistulli said.
Cistulli's confirmation comes on the heels of a leak
about a purported Windows 10 smartphone from
Alcatel OneTouch. Details of the device, dubbed the
Fierce XL, emerged from tech leaker Evan Blass, who
posts on Twitter under the handle Evleaks. Cistulli
declined to comment on the leak.
Alcatel OneTouch's backing represents a rare bit of
support for Windows 10 on the smartphone side.
While PC makers have embraced the new software,
smartphone vendors have been lukewarm due to the
dominance of Google's Android and Apple's iOS
software for mobile devices.
Microsoft plays up the unifying nature of Windows
10, with its ability to run on smartphones, tablets,
PCs and other devices, but consumer interest has
been moderate so far. Less than 4 percent of the US
market uses a Windows Phone, according to Kantar
WorldPanel.
Microsoft turned off some of its smartphone partners
when it acquired the hardware operations of phone
maker Nokia last year. That acquisition has since
soured as Windows Phone sales have continued to
founder. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft took
a $7.6 billion charge in July related to the
acquisition and said it would cut 7,800 jobs.
Regardless, Microsoft has said it will launch a high-
end Windows 10 smartphone by the end of 2015.
Although Windows Phones have struggled in the high
end, the software has done better in the market for
budget phones, such as the Lumia 532 , which sells
for $93, £69 or AU$126.
Alcatel OneTouch, owned by Chinese television giant
TCL, started selling smartphones in the US just two
years ago but it's hoping to catch up quickly.
Earlier this year it promised to significantly boost
the amount it spends on marketing and to invest in
tech talent in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The company hopes to catch a measure of success
with an affordable smartphone running Windows 10,
which it plans to sell through at least one US
carrier.
Microsoft declined to comment.