Microsoft, seeking to tap into the rapidly growing smartphone market, announced on Tuesday that new cellphones coming next month will feature an upgraded mobile operating system.
The Redmond, Washington-based software giant said mobile phones from its handset partners hitting stores on Oct. 6 will be the first to feature Windows Mobile 6.5, the latest version of its mobile phone software.
The new phones, to be branded as “Windows Phones,” will feature a redesigned Web browser and a free service called “My Phone,” which allows users to back up contacts, messages and photos on a personal computer or the Internet.
Microsoft also announced plans to launch an online applications store — Windows Marketplace for Mobile — like Apple’s popular App Store for the iPhone or Research in Motion’s (RIM) recently unveiled Blackberry App World.
It said a “wide variety” of applications will be available for the devices to be offered by hardware manufacturers in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.
Other features include e-mail using Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile and Microsoft Office Mobile, which allows users to open and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from their phone.
Microsoft’s share of the market for smartphone operating systems fell to 9 percent in the second quarter from 12 percent a year ago, market researcher Gartner said.
Nokia’s Symbian is the leader with a 51 percent share of the market according to Gartner, while RIM commands around 21 percent and Apple has increased its share to 13.3 percent from 2.8 percent a year ago.
Google’s open-source Android mobile phone software is another new entry in the operating system space and the Internet giant has carved out a 2 percent market share.
While worldwide mobile phone sales fell 6.1 percent in the second quarter, smartphone sales increased by 27 percent in the period to 40.9 million units, Gartner said.
Stephanie Ferguson, general manager of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile unit, said in a blog post that the software for new smartphones emphasized “productivity.”
“Of the people we talked to, 74 percent listed productivity as the top feature they value in their smartphone,” she wrote.
“We took this feedback to heart, making the user interface more touch friendly and improving notifications and updates from e-mail, text and calendar items,” Ferguson said.
“We also included the latest Internet Explorer Mobile browser and added free services like My Phone to help protect data in the event of a lost phone,” she said.
Microsoft identified its partners in North America as mobile operators AT&T, Bell Mobility, Sprint, TELUS and Verizon Wireless, and phone manufacturers HP, HTC Corp, LG Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba Corp.
In Europe, its partners are mobile operators Orange, Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Group PLC and phone manufacturers Acer, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba.
Microsoft said that in Latin America its partners are mobile operator TIM Brazil and phone manufacturers HTC, LG Electronics and Samsung.
In Asia-Pacific, its partners are mobile operators NTT DOCOMO Inc, SOFTBANK Mobile Corp., SK Telecom, Telstra and WILLCOM and phone manufacturers Acer Inc, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba.
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
GRAFT PROBE: Critics questioned Ko claiming he did not know about the Core Pacific floor area ratio issue until this year, citing a 2021 video in which he was asked about it Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released without bail early yesterday, while his deputy during his tenure as Taipei mayor was detained and held incommunicado after being questioned since Friday over graft allegations related to a shopping center redevelopment project. Prosecutors on Saturday filed a request with the Taipei District Court to officially detain Ko and former Taipei deputy mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) over allegations surrounding the redevelopment of Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心). The court yesterday determined that the evidence provided by prosecutors was insufficient to justify the detention of Ko and ordered his