Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer said today at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona that beefing up a presence in the mobile sector will be a priority for 2006.
Microsoft provides the Windows Mobile operating system for smart phones now, but the software giant expects applications like e-mail, mobile television and business offers to take it to the next level.
“Powerful devices meet powerful networks in small forms," Ballmer said during today’s keynote.
This week’s announcements from the world’s largest software maker include:
* Availability of direct push e-mail technology. Upgrades for the Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP) are available for smart phones powered by Windows Mobile 5.0 from major operators including Cingular Wireless, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.
* New Windows Mobile devices with MSFP. Microsoft’s device partners introduced several new devices to ship out-of-the-box with MSFP: The HP iPAQ hw6900 Mobile Messenger, Fujitsu Siemens FS Pocket Loox, Gigabyte g-Smart and g-Smart I handsets and the ASUS P305 3G-enabled smart phone.
* More music on mobile phones. Microsoft and Motorola strengthened their existing relationship by announcing the integration of Windows Media technologies, including Windows Media Digital Rights Management, on a number of Motorola handsets, providing the ability to play back content purchased from the breadth of pay-per-download and subscription music services available worldwide.
* Better local search on mobile phones. MSN acquired MotionBridge and its relationships with North American and European mobile operators. The acquisition will allow MSN to provide tools to maximize the value of mobile operator content and data networks, and also provide a mobile search engine.
* New options for small-to-medium businesses. There is immediate availability of Direct Push e-mail technology and remote device management features for small business servers from Vodafone and T-Mobile Netherlands, delivering better messaging and e-mail solutions to small to medium businesses.
* Lower manufacturing costs for smart phones. Microsoft joined forces with Texas Instruments to introduce a single-core smart phone chipset which will enable smart phones to run on less expensive feature-phone hardware.
“We are trying to provide a complete end-to-end solution," Ballmer said.
Microsoft Corp. www.microsoft.com
