Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Microsoft pinning mobile hopes on new operating system
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Weekend Edition
Microsoft pinning mobile hopes on new operating system
AFP - Sunday, October 10
Send
IM Story
Print
Microsoft pinning mobile hopes on new operating system
Slideshow: Full Photo Coverage: Internet Portals & Search Engines
NEW YORK (AFP) - – Microsoft unveils a new mobile phone operating system on Monday in what is being seen as a potentially make-or-break effort by the US software giant to remain a player in the hotly competitive niche.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer is to take the wraps off a new line of smartphones powered by Windows Phone 7 (WP7) at an event in New York and the devices are expected to hit stores around the world in the next few weeks.
Though mobile makes up only one percent of Microsoft's revenue, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Holt said WP7 is a "pivotal release" for the Redmond, Washington-based company.
"This is an 11 on a scale of one to 10," agreed Ramon Llamas of technology reseearch firm IDC. "They've been slow to come to market, and when they do, they use yesterday's technology. There's some catching up to do."
Ballmer is confident WP7 will help Microsoft claw back market share lost to Apple's iPhone, Research in Motion's Blackberry and devices powered by Google's Android mobile platform.
"I think our products will stand out compared to any others," Ballmer told a business conference in Madrid. "We would not be launching the product if we did not feel good about its chances to do well."
Analysts are cautiously optimistic about Microsoft's future in a smartphone market which Morgan Stanley estimates is seeing annual growth of 38 percent.
"While WP7 is debuting in the midst of intense competition, Microsoft seems to have developed a viable next generation mobile platform which may help the company gain credibility in mobile," Morgan Stanley's Holt said.
WP7 is Microsoft's first significant update to its mobile operating system in 18 months and its release comes on the heels of the disastrous launch of a "Kin" line of mobile phones.
"The Kin was an abject failure," said IDC's Llamas of the devices aimed at the youth market which were pulled from stores after just two months.
According to technology research firm Gartner, Microsoft's share of the worldwide mobile operating system market will fall to 4.7 percent this year from 8.7 percent last year. It is expected to rise to 5.2 percent by 2011 but decline to 3.9 percent in 2014.
Among the handset makers expected to launch WP7-powered devices in the United States and Europe are South Korea's Samsung and LG Electronics and Taiwan's HTC.
Nicolas Petit of Microsoft France said WP7 features a number of innovations which will help make the company a player again.
"In 2010, an operating system needs to decompartmentalize and allow content to circulate more easily," Petit said, comparing other platforms to "a long hallway with doors to a lot of rooms that don't join up with each other."
Smartphones powered by WP7 will run email from various services, not just Microsoft's Hotmail, integrate calenders, contacts and social networks and allow for documents to be viewed, edited and shared using Microsoft Office.
WP7, which represents a shift for Microsoft from the enterprise market to the consumer, will also allow users to tap into Microsoft's Zune music player ecosystem and to access mobile versions of Xbox 360 games.
If WP7 proves to be a hit, Microsoft will once again manage to overcome the skeptics.
Since its launch in June of last year, Microsoft's new Internet search engine, Bing, has steadily gained market share and its Windows 7 computer operating system has been a commercial and technical success.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
Microsoft pinning mobile hopes on new operating system AFP - Sunday, October 10
US-TECH Summary Reuters - Saturday, October 9
Sales of top video game titles boost holiday hopes Reuters - Saturday, October 9
Corrected: Sales of top video game titles boost holiday hopes Reuters - Saturday, October 9
Google getting larger in Apple's rearview mirror Reuters - Saturday, October 9
News Search
Top Stories
Mandela letters show jail heartbreak: report
No US government takeover of economy:Geithner
IMF calls for more study on economic imbalances
EDF charges Constellation pulls out of US reactor project
Win for husband and wife, Games in race row
More Top Stories »
Related Full Coverage
Internet Portals & Search EnginesLatest development in the online world
All Full Coverage »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Win for husband and wife, Games in race row
British lottery winner gets record 129 mln euros
Ryanair may quit Marseille over court case: report
British minister says cuts may be scaled back
Europe takes currency fight to US
More Most Viewed »
US state executes first woman in nearly 100 years
Workers swarm Europe's streets in anti-cuts protests
Global marine life census charts vast world beneath the seas
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Weekend Edition
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo!
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
World Cup 2010
Yahoo! News Network
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Sunday, 10 October 2010 South Sudan president asks for peacekeepers
Egypt's main opposition group to contest election
North Korea's leader-in-waiting attends state gala
|
IMF calls for more study on economic imbalances
Pakistan reopens main land route for NATO supplies
Iran says Oct-Nov a good time for nuclear talks
British aid worker killed in botched Afghan rescue
Iraqi PM urges rivals to agree to unity government
Palestinians give U.S. one month to curb settlements
Iran: ready for nuclear talks in late Oct or early Nov
Singapore win men's team table tennis gold
British aid worker dies during rescue mission
Coutts' five golds highlight Australia at Commonwealth Games
North Korea's leader-in-waiting attends state gala
Nobel euphoria fails to mask tough reality in China
Liverpool marks 70th birthday of John Lennon
X Factor finalists face public vote
IMF should be tougher on exchange rate monitoring: US
France's GDF Suez signs China LNG supply deal
John Lennon's son unveils monument on anniversary
|
Iran may be ready for nuclear talks by late October
Dutchwoman in Colombia's FARC has prominent role
North Korea's heir debuts at giant military parade
|
British aid worker killed in botched Afghan rescue
Microsoft pinning mobile hopes on new operating system
EDF charges Constellation pulls out of US reactor project
Chile rescuers reinforce shaft for miners' escape
|
Mandela letters show jail heartbreak: report
Kyrgyzstan votes in landmark election
|
No US government takeover of economy:Geithner
Iran may be ready for nuclear talks by late October
|
Japan and China defense chiefs to meet Monday: report
|
China Nobel Peace Prize winner's wife missing
Taliban claim Pakistan NATO supply convoy attack
Vietnam flood death toll reaches 64: officials
Al-Qaeda views West terror alert fears as victory: experts
Nevada family's secret life unravels
Indonesia flood toll rises to 148: official
Australia, Pacific kick off global climate action
Japan and China defence chiefs to meet Monday
N.Korea puts power and heir apparent on display
Ubisoft jumps on Kinect motion-sensing videogame controls
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary
Vietnam holds largest military display in years
Bill Gates to attend G20 business summit
IMF, World Bank to wrap up three days of talks
John Lennon's son unveils monument on anniversary
Japanese detainee set to return from China
Fox gets teeth into Chinese movie market
South Korea bank chief hopeful of currency deal this year
Emerging Asia must move to end crisis-era spending: IMF
Indonesia picks up Playboy editor to face jail sentence
NATO supplies through Pakistan border resume
2 Taliban commanders killed; 2 NATO troops die
Solomon Burke dies: Netherlands airport
Gay rights march in Belgrade triggers riots
|
2 Taliban commanders, 2 fighters killed: NATO
Hungary races to build dam amid new sludge threat
|
NATO: 2 Taliban commanders, 2 fighters killed
More than 4,000 complaints in Afghan poll
|
Dutch Antilles dissolves as two new countries created
|
Iraq broadcasts confessions by al Qaeda insurgents
|
Iran rebels say kidnap nuclear expert
|
Court acquits Iraqis of killing six British soldiers
|
US drone kills seven militants in Pakistan: officials
N.Zealand TV host at centre of India race row quits
Nadal beats Monfils to win Japan Open tennis
Vettel wins Japanese Grand Prix
Cop who made tapes accuses NYPD of false arrest
Reformists lose hope for Indonesia
Global Weather-Celsius
Anti-gay torture allegations stun neighbors in NYC
S.Korea drops plan to use 'sound cannon' at G20
Abrupt yuan rise problematic for China: experts
Turkmen leader fires gas monopoly chief
Soul singer Solomon Burke dies in Amsterdam
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights