Microsoft has announced new hardware and operator partners for its Windows Powered Smartphone software and a new MSN mobile Internet service, kicking off its third year at the 3GSM World Congress event in Cannes, France.
Microsoft’s 3GSM announcements on February 17th 2003, were a clear follow-up to last year’s sneak preview of Windows-powered Smartphone devices and Pocket PC Phone Edition hardware.
Mitac International had a clamshell-type phone based on the Microsoft Smartphone software on show, while Winstron, an Acer spin-off, is the first to license a blueprint for a Microsoft Smartphone from Microsoft and Intel.
T-Mobile International will be the third mobile operator to sell a device running Microsoft’s Smartphone software. The German company will offer in Europe, starting midyear.
The HTC triband phone has a colour screen, 32Mbyte of memory, and a MultiMediaCard expansion slot. Its software includes slimmed-down versions of Microsoft’s Outlook, Internet Explorer, MSN Messenger, and Windows Media Player.
T-Mobile will also be the first to offer Pocket MSN, a new mobile Internet service and software from Microsoft for smart phones and phone-equipped personal digital assistants running Pocket PC Phone Edition. The software on the device links to a mobile Internet service and allows the user to send instant messages and read Hotmail e-mail. Pocket MSN is a step up from the already available MSN services via Short Message Service text messages, according to Microsoft.
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Meanwhile, UK operator Orange, which launched the world’s first Microsoft-based smart phone in October 2002, announced at the event that it is joining Microsoft’s program for application developers for smart phones. Orange will be able to choose applications certified by Microsoft and add those to the menu of the Orange.
13/03/2003
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