Windows Phone trivia: Samsung Focus S was originally called Haden?

Way back in September we reported on three new Windows Phones -- the HTC Ultimate, the HTC Radar and the Samsung Haden --  all appearing in the logs of the app "I'm a WP7!".

As it turns out, it was very accurate. The HTC Ultimate became the Titan (but for Brazil), the Radar of course is very well known today being on T-Mobile and in international markets but that Samsung Haden never really came forth.

For awhile, we thought maybe this was that rumored Samsung LTE device or perhaps something for Sprint. But as it turns out the 4G LTE Samsung phone is actually the "Mandel" (which we're starting to think has been nixed from AT&T's lineup) and of course there's nada from Sprint (or Verizon and T-Mobile.).

Site reader Bailey S. recently had some problems with his Samsung Focus S so he sent it to Samsung for repairs. Evidently there was something wrong with the motherboard so Sammy replaced it and sent the phone back to Bailey. Case closed.

But upon booting up the device for the 1st time, he was greeted with the traditional welcome screen for Windows Phone but instead of SGH-i937 or Focus S it said "Welcome to your SAMSUNG Haden". Even more curious, it says as much in the About screen of the device as well.

So what are we to make of this? The AT&T "code name" for the Focus S was "Kupua" but we're starting to think Samsung's internal device name was, you guessed, "Haden". At least that's our hunch. But why does his phone say "Haden"? We actually have no idea, though if anyone wants to add anything in comments, we're all ears.

Another interesting side note is this phone is completely unbranded with no AT&T software on board. That lends credence to the idea that "Haden" was in case Samsung released this phone internationally (something which never happened) or that "Haden" was for internal testing.

Just some weekend trivia to chew on if you happen to track device names that pop up every once in awhile. Thanks, Bailey, for the email and photos!

Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.