Samsung Ativ Q

U.S. Cellular's support team has been busy dropping tidbits of info on the carrier's Windows Phone 8 plans over the past week or so, revealing that USCC would be releasing the Samsung ATIV Odyssey sometime in July. Today the carrier itself came forward to give us the official rundown, announcing that the ATIV Odyssey will be available online starting today and in stores on July 11. Pricing for U.S. Cellular's first Windows Phone 8 device is set at $49.99 with a two-year contract and $50 mail-in rebate.

Much like it did when it arrived on Verizon earlier this year, U.S. Cellular's ATIV Odyssey packs a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor and NFC. Also included is 8GB of built-in storage, a microSD slot with support for cards up to 64GB in size, a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing shooter. Rounding out the ATIV Odyssey's feature set is support for U.S. Cellular's 4G LTE network, which the carrier says is currently available to 61 percent of its customers and will grow to cover 87 percent by the end of 2013.

Like other U.S.-based CDMA operators, U.S. Cellular hasn't exactly been known for having a wide selection of Windows Phone hardware, having launched the keyboard-clad HTC 7 Pro in mid-2011 and the ZTE Render late in 2012. That's why it's good to see USCC launching its first Windows Phone 8 device, and I'm sure that Microsoft is happy to have another operator on its list of WP8 supporters. Here's to hoping that the wait for U.S. Cellular's second Windows Phone 8 device won't be as long as the gap separating its last two Windows Phone products.

Via U.S. Cellular