MS banks on Windows to win Mobile O/S race
Reuters | at | by Mike
U.S. software giant Microsoft on Monday took a swipe at rival mobile operating systems maker Symbian, saying familiarity with Windows will help it be the standard used in new high-performance wireless devices. "It's important (for developers and users) to have access to data they are already familiar with in the PC environment," Derek Brown, director of mobile devices group, told Reuters in an interview. The Redmond, Washington-based maker of the popular Windows operating system is in competition with Britain's Symbian, which is backed by the top four hand phone makers -- Nokia, Motorola, joint venture Sony-Ericsson and Siemens.
"It will enable a lot faster innovation and variation in both hardware and applications." Last month, the U.S. giant agreed to supply China's TCL with both its Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition and Smartphone 2002 as it tries to get a toehold into the world's biggest mobile phone market with over 140 million cell phone users.