Microsoft Takes Lead in Software For Handhelds
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Microsoft has unseated the Palm system with worldwide sales of more than 1.3 million units over the third quarter of the year, compared with slightly more than 850,000 for the Palm, according to a new report. -The Washington Post
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(InfoWorld) - An executive in Microsoft's entertainment and games division Tuesday hinted that Microsoft may be developing its own Windows Mobile OS-based rival to Apple's iPhone. Speaking at Citi's annual Global Technology Conference in New York on Tuesday, Mindy Mount, corporate vice president and CFO for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, said it's not "unreasonable" to think that Microsoft will integrate photo, music, and touchscreen features into a Windows Mobile product in the future, though she declined to comment on the specifics of when or what that might look like. Microsoft's idea with Windows Mobile has been to move everyday business capabilities, such as accessing e-mail, from the PC to the mobile device. However, most people "tend to have one phone for personal as well as work [use]," Mount said. "Being able to do pictures and music is something that consumers are going to want, so it's a natural thing for us to want in our product roadmap." Microsoft is rumored to be evolving its Zune multimedia player -- its rival to the iPod -- with new features out by the holiday time at the end of the year, though Mount declined to confirm this on Tuesday. But a hybrid product melding Zune, which so far has had lackluster response from consumers, with Windows Mobile features is not completely unrealistic for the future. Microsoft has already worked with hardware partners to develop Windows Mobile handsets with touchscreen capabilities that are similar to the iPhone's. For example, the HTC Touch from High Tech Computer is one of the latest Windows Mobile devices to offer users the ability to use a touchscreen to scroll through e-mail and contacts and browse Web pages. But the HTC Touch smartphone, which is available in the U.K., Europe, and Asia and should makes its North American debut later this year, doesn't have the type of multimedia capabilities that give the iPhone an edge over rival smartphones, at least in the short term. Market research firm iSuppli said Tuesday that in July, its first full month of release, the iPhone outsold popular competitors, such as the Research in Motion Blackberry and Palm Treo devices. Regarding RIM, comments Mount made Tuesday also seemed to shoot downÂ speculation last week that Microsoft is in talks to purchase the Canadian maker of mobile hardware and software. "We don't comment on rumors, but what I would ask people is what that really gets you," she said. Much of RIM's success has been with the device portion of its BlackBerry business, whereas Microsoft has been very successful with using third parties to build its Windows Mobile devices, Mount said. The company sold 11 million Windows Mobile licenses last year and expects to do 20 million in the current fiscal year. "We're pretty happy with that roadmap right now," she said. That roadmap so far does not include Microsoft offering hardware for its Windows Mobile OS, which also means if the company did release an iPhone rival based on Windows Mobile, it's unclear whether it would be through a third party or from the company itself. Still, if the Xbox 360, Zune, and Milan table-top computer with touchscreen features the company previewed earlier this year are any indication, Microsoft seems to be warming up to the idea of offering consumer hardware devices alongside its traditional software, so an iPhone rival from the vendor is within the realm of possibility.
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The company seems to be focused on developing a solution that would enable users to access complete directions and maps using a portable device.
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REDMOND, Wash. - Microsoft Corp. plans a launch this spring of its next-generation operating system for wireless devices, Windows Mobile 6, which is important for the company's efforts to grab market share beyond the desktop.
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Back in May, a Microsoft executive said it would be &quot;perfectly feasible&quot; for Microsoft&#39;s Windows Mobile software to run on a PalmOne handheld device or smartphone, now that the company formerly known as Palm is separated into two companies, one for
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Microsoft Corp. led the market in the third quarter for operating systems used in personal digital assistants, surpassing for the first time the Palm OS that dominated the handheld-computer segment for years.
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InfoWorld - Microsoft plans to announce beefed up remote Windows Mobile phone management capabilities with the introduction of System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 on Tuesday.
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BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 11  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp.  today unveiled Windows Mobile(R) 6, the newest version of its mobile software platform.
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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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Microsoft Corp., worldâs largest software maker, increased its market shares of Windows CE, operating system for handheld devices, in the third quarter of this year, stated a research study conducted by Gartner, Inc.
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There must be a typo in the name of Microsoft's new software for handheld organizers and smartphones. It's called "Windows Mobile 6," but this release seems hardly different from the 2005 Windows Mobile 5.
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Microsoft on Tuesday will announce new mobile management server for wireless access, management and security, while Palm and others will announce compatible Windows Mobile devices.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft hopes to better meet the back-office needs of smaller businesses with a new take on enterprise resource planning (ERP) software called Dynamics Entrepreneur Solution. The software will provide smaller organizations with finance, purchasing, and sales and marketing software. It's aimed at companies employing up to 49 staff and tops out at five concurrent users, according to Barb Edson, director, Microsoft Dynamics. Along with other ERP companies, Microsoft is looking for ways to attract startups that are starting to outgrow entry-level accountancy software like Intuit's QuickBooks and are in search of more sophisticated applications on which to run their businesses. Based on Microsoft's existing Dynamics NAV ERP applications, Entrepreneur can be seen as a stepping stone to the full-blown Dynamics NAV as a company expands its business. Microsoft said that Entrepreneur itself was more than just a scaled-down version of Dynamics NAV and had been specially developed for small businesses, particularly in terms of cutting back on the need for users to heavily customize the software. Priced at â¬795 ($1,086), Entrepreneur is set to make its debut in Europe as part of a phased worldwide rollout of the software. The product will initially be available in September in Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K., Microsoft announced Tuesday at its Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Denver. As with Microsoft's other back-office applications, the software will be provided by the vendor's partners. Microsoft also announced new software to make another one of its ERP families of products, Dynamics AX, accessible from mobile devices. Costing $495 per client access license, Dynamics AX Mobile Sales software is shipping this month. The product enables salespeople to remotely place and track orders, query sales histories and manage advertising campaigns from their Windows Mobile-based devices. The software includes Microsoft Dynamics Mobile Development Tools, which customers and partners can use to build additional mobile offerings based on Dynamics. At the same time, Microsoft announced an intensification of its existing relationship with Motorola Inc. to allow their joint partners to create Dynamics-based applications for some Motorola mobile computers. Adding mobile extensions to Dynamics AX is just the start, Edson said. The overall plan is to also extend Microsoft's other Dynamics ERP families so that those families of applications can be accessed by mobile devices. As yet the company is not commenting publicly on when such capabilities will become available for Dynamics GP, NAV and SL, she added. The software giant also made a number of other Dynamics announcements at the WPC event, notably releasing initial pricing,Â product and rollout details for its Dynamics Live CRM service. Microsoft also pledged to invest $20 million in initiatives over the coming year to act as inducements to its Dynamics partners. The programs include investments in training and education for technical sales staff and new hires at Microsoft partners along with financial rewards for partners completing a process to certify their add-on applications for Dynamics ERP or customer relationship management (CRM) software. Â
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Software maker plans to move leaders in its Windows, Windows Live, and Windows Mobile units. Executives leaving the company include two prominent outside hires.
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The software giant may be developing a Windows Mobile OS-based competitor.
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PalmOne Inc. PLMO.O, the leading  maker of handheld computers on Tuesday said it licensed  Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O software that enables secure delivery  of corporate e-mail to portable devices.
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Hoping to whet the appetite of developers specializing in mobile and embedded devices, Microsoft on Monday made available a free technology preview of Windows XP Embedded containing Service Pack 2 (SP2) that it expects to deliver by year's end.