CTIA: Microsoft Backs Mobile Services Company
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Microsoft is backing a new company that will help enterprises design, deploy, and manage Windows Mobile phones and services.
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In an effort to show wide support for its newest Windows Mobile operating system, Microsoft Corp. is highlighting several announcements from handset makers on Monday at 3GSM in Barcelona.
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Microsoft on announced it has inked a pact to put mobile versions of its Windows Live services onto handsets made by one of its chief competitors.
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Has Microsoft really confirmed that is talking with Nokia about Windows Mobile licensing, or not? The latest word from Microsoft on that question is, "No."
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Continuing its push into the mobile consumer market, Microsoft announced that it plans to acquire Danger, the developer of software and services that run the Sidekick.Danger&#39;s operating system and applications work in tandem with backend servers to offer such services as games, social networking, Internet access, Web e-mail, and instant messaging. T-Mobile&#39;s Sidekick, manufactured by Sharp, is perhaps the best known Danger device.Microsoft did not disclose financial terms of the deal or say if it planned to continue to support the Danger mobile operating system as Microsoft has its own mobile operating system in Windows Mobile.However, Microsoft indicated that it has plans for Danger&#39;s technology beyond mobile phones. In a statement, Microsoft suggested it could combine Danger&#39;s services with MSN, Xbox, Zune, Windows Live, and Windows Mobile. In addition, Microsoft said that Danger would join its Entertainment and Devices Division, not specifically the Windows Mobile group, which is in that division.Danger, based in Palo Alto, California, was founded by Andy Rubin, who later went on to start a company called Android that Google bought.&#160;Google&#39;s Android is a Linux-based mobile phone operating system.While Danger has a loyal following, the company hasn&#39;t turned a profit. In late 2007, it filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to execute a public offering, which may have been an indication that it needed money.Sidekick fans have a mixed reaction to the news of the Microsoft acquisition. In an online forum, some people wrote that they were excited that Danger would have better financial backing in order to further its research and development. Others said they feared that Microsoft was essentially buying out the competition and would soon discontinue Danger&#39;s products and services.Microsoft has recently indicated that it is trying to attract more consumers to Windows Mobile, which the market views as primarily a business tool. It recently hired a new executive to focus on consumer marketing, and the Danger buy could help it acquire consumer customers.
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Norwegian browser developer Opera Software ASA has developed a product to run on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile operating system, with plans to ship demonstration versions to mobile phone operators and manufacturers in the coming weeks.
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Yahoo Inc.  on Wednesday said  its mobile services is now available for download on phones  that use Microsoft Corp.'s  Windows Mobile operating  system.
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Mobile phones play an important role in Microsoft&#39;s software plus services vision, CEO Steve Ballmer said Tuesday.Microsoft&#39;s software strategy a few years ago revolved around software that was either embedded on devices or burned onto CDs and shipped to users, he said. Today, however, software works in tandem with the Internet, which can back up and update the software.&quot;There&#39;s no better way then the cell networks of the world to make this model happen,&quot; he said, speaking during the opening presentation at the CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment conference in San Francisco. He envisions a time when software is wirelessly updated and works in tandem with services hosted on the Internet.But the software plus services concept won&#39;t be different for the PC and the mobile phone, he said. At the top of Microsoft&#39;s innovation agenda is unifying a variety of devices and applications. Microsoft is focused on enabling developers to create single applications that take advantage of phones, desktop computers, the enterprise environment, and the online environment, he said.Microsoft is enabling that in part by offering a consistent platform that developers can use to create applications for the PC and mobile phones. For example, a developer can write a thin client for mobile phones using HTML, Ajax, and, in the future, Silverlight. Microsoft&#39;s .Net and Visual Studio can be used to write rich applications for mobile phones. Microsoft also offers a compact version of SQL so that developers can write applications for Windows Mobile phones for database manipulation.The phone is particularly important in achieving Microsoft&#39;s unified view, he said. &quot;The PC is the most powerful device, but the phone is the most popular,&quot; he said. Particularly in the developing world where PC&#39;s may be cost prohibitive, cell phones may be more widespread.Microsoft is focused on providing software for partners to use and it is working carefully not to compete with them, he said. Unlike Google, Microsoft won&#39;t be participating in the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction. &quot;What would it buy us to own a piece of spectrum?&quot; he said. &quot;It would probably do a lot to alienate the telecom industry. It does not do a lot to advance our goal, which is to take some exciting technology and spread it.&quot;Windows Mobile is a big opportunity financially for Microsoft from two perspectives, he said. If Windows Mobile runs hundreds of millions of devices, that&#39;s a great business for Microsoft, he said. &quot;Also, I don&#39;t think we can serve our customers&#39; broad desire to bring together desktops, devices, enterprise, and online if we ignore the mobile area,&quot; he said.
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Mobile network operator T-Mobile sheds light on three new Windows Mobile powered devices, including the SDA and SDA Music smartphones and the MDA Compact communicator.
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Microsoft  took a decisive  step into the mobile Web arena with a deal to buy Danger, a  mobile software company best known for the Sidekick, to all  intents a blueprint for a Google  phone.
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InfoWorld - Some of the first Windows Mobile 6.0 phones to hit the market will include Opera Software ASA&#39;s mobile browser, in addition to Microsoft Corp.&#39;s browser.
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In its clearest sign yet that it is serious about the consumer cell phone market, Microsoft says it is buying the maker of the T-Mobile Sidekick.
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Longtime foes palmOne and Microsoft on Tuesday announced a licensing deal that will allow the next generation of palmOne&#39;s Treo smart phones to work directly with Microsoft&#39;s Exchange e-mail system.
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Cognos adds mobile BI support for Windows Mobile 6 and Nokia devices.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft Corp. launched a redesigned MSN portal for mobile phones, with improved navigation and optimized display of Web pages. Users of many Web-capable phones can navigate to the mobile.msn.com site and from there access a variety of Microsoft online services such as Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger. PC users can visit the page to check if their phone is supported. MSN Mobile users can also read sports news from Fox Sports, check on the weather forecast, search the Internet and view maps. They can use Windows Live Local to search for local businesses and receive results including maps and directions. The site is designed to offer features similar to MSN.com for PC users. The new MSN Mobile also improves the way that pages are displayed for mobile users. MSN detects the phone a user has and then delivers pages that fit the device's screen, Microsoft said. Microsoft first launched MSN Mobile out of beta in May. Microsoft hopes to strike deals with operators to integrate MSN Mobile into their own portals. Operators in Europe have been more eager than their U.S. counterparts to form such partnerships with strong online brands like Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. U.S. operators often prefer to offer Web content and services under their own brands. Making a deal with MSN Mobile means that operators can display advertisements to mobile Web users, using technology based on Microsoft's recent acquisition of ScreenTonic, a developer of a mobile advertisement system. Microsoft is competing against online giants Google and Yahoo, as well as various startup companies, to deliver advertisements to mobile users. Because there are many more mobile phone users than PC users around the world, these online services companies see the potential for significant revenue from mobile advertisements. MSN Mobile is currently available to phone users in the U.S. and Microsoft plans to introduce the new portal around the world throughout this year.
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Mobile phones play an important role in Microsoft's software-plus-services vision, CEO Steve Ballmer told the CTIA show in San Francisco today.
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A pair of Taiwanese companies signed a technology agreement to develop 3G (third generation telecommunications) and 3.5G smartphones around the Windows Mobile OS, adding to the growing pool of companies developing mobile phones around the Microsoft Corp. software.