Microsoft’s new mobile platform is due to arrive on October and from the looks of it, several handsets will be ready by that time.

It is already known that the LG Panther has been ready for the past few months. A mock version of the device has already been seen as early as March while what seems to be final version of the smart phone has been seen in images in the recent weeks. And the Korean manufacturer is not the only one making a WP7 device. Taiwan based HTC has dropped two names, the Mozart and the Mondrian as WP7 handsets, though no details were given if the two phones were indeed separate or this is simply one device with two nicknames. Sony Ericsson’s name has also been added to the list with the announcement of the SE Jolie.

The new operating system from Microsoft focuses heavily on general users. While the older Windows Mobile operating system is a more business-centric mobile platform, the WP7 leans towards media playback, internet access, social networking, games and general functionality.

Considering the most recent demonstrations of the operating system, WP7 has proven to be a well composed OS, with various functions leading and linking towards each other. Users can jump from the map to the contact list to the calendar if the user has associated linked entries for the various contents.

In the above trail, a map could potentially show the addresses of nearby contacts that when clicked, can bring up the details of the individual. From there, a user can set a schedule to visit, call or simple email the contact and have the task marked on the calendar. All of these processes are done directly, without having to go back to the home screen even once.

Expect to see more updates regarding Windows Phone 7 as October approaches.

Well, we have not actually seen the WP7 mobile platform running on LG’s latest prototype, but what we have is pretty interesting.

LG and Microsoft have finally decided to come out and show us all what the very first Windows Phone 7 smart phone might actually look like. The LG Panther is a sleek looking smart phone with a large capacitive touch screen and a spiffy slide out keyboard. Yep, that’s right. The new WP7 device follows the originally announced type 2 chassis from last week.

For those who missed the podcast from ZDnet, it turns out that Microsoft has narrowed down the types of smart phones that can use the new OS into three basic types. The type 1 is a traditional smart phone look just like the Apple’s iPhone. The second is a more specialized smart phone that comes with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. The third uses the candy bar format.

As you might have guessed, the LG Panther comes with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. While you might think that this will make the device pretty thick, it is only a little stubbier than the iPhone. It is impressive how LG has managed to make the device so thin –though we hope that it does not feel a little too thin when you slide out the pad.

So far, no word has been given as to what other specifications this new phone will be having. We do know that Qualcomm chips will be running the new platform so we are expecting to see either the 1GHz Snapdragon or even a faster dual core model. Images show a 5 mega pixel camera with LED flash as well as some control buttons up front.

Get the latest scoop on the LG Panther and Windows Phone 7 at Engadget.