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Motorola, Microsoft 'smart phone' ; Device linking computer, cell phone on sale soon

Posted on: Tuesday, 18 November 2003, 06:00 CST

Motorola and Microsoft today will announce the release next month of a jointly developed "smart phone" and plans for a line of other wireless devices that will have the look and feel of a computer desktop using Microsoft's pervasive Windows operating system.

The first new Motorola MPx200, described as a "virtual remote control" to connect the cell phones to computer desktops, will be available next month in the United Kingdom from Orange and later this year in the United States from AT&T Wireless.

Michael Tatelman, vice president and general manager of MotoPro, a new Motorola group that builds devices with the Windows Mobile operating system, said the new "operating system strategy" will result in mobile professionals and other consumers having "the best experience" by being able to sync -- or easily update via wires or through the air -- the "pocket" version of the popular Outlook contacts, calendar listings and e-mail between wireless devices and personal computers.

The new devices will also provide users with "rich" media experiences, such as playing MP3 files and watching video clips on the Microsoft Media Player, and going to Web sites with the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser, he said.

The phone, which has a bright color screen, also enables users to access instant messaging and short message service. The phone also has a voice recorder and a solitaire game.

Michael Gartenberg, a wireless devices analyst with Jupiter Research in New York, said, "This a very big deal for Microsoft. They finally have [a major player in cell phones] who validates their mobile strategy, which they have been working on for many years. And they now have critical partners in the United States."

Ed Suwanjindar, lead product manager in the Microsoft Mobile Devices Division, said Microsoft will benefit from Motorola's global marketing reach and distribution network.

Microsoft has fought an uphill battle to win acceptance of its operating system in the cell phone world. In fact, cell phone companies, led by Motorola and Nokia, banded together five years ago to form a company called Symbian Ltd. to be the anti-Microsoft and develop an operating system for smart phones combining features of cell phones and handheld computers.

Earlier this month, however, Motorola sold off its 19 percent interest in Symbian. Nokia has developed its own version of Symbian.

At the end of August, Motorola introduced its first Symbian- based phone and the company plans to continue to license Symbian software. Tatelman said the alliance with Microsoft had nothing to do with changes at Symbian.

The alliance is not an exclusive arrangement. Microsoft already is working on Windows-based phones with Samsung, but Nokia, which has developed its own version of Symbian, is not expected to join forces with Microsoft, Gartenberg said.

Carriers will determine the price for the new phones. But he expects smart phones to be "high end." That could mean that the Windows phones will cost more than $500.

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