Microsoft rides Samsung’s phones into mobile world — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{Support from SCO} Microsoft rides Samsung’s phones into mobile world

7 Oct 2006 at 17:47 GMT Timo Poropudas

Samsung has lately lost some of its market share to Nokia and especially Motorola. Now it trying to gain it back with phones based on Microsoft mobile operating systems and applications. Microsoft and Samsung announced already in 2000 an agreement to design, develop and market mobile phones based on Microsoft software. As part of the agreement, Samsung got to be the first handset manufacturer to design a range of phones for both GSM (global system for mobile communications) and CDMA (code division multiple access) networks using the Microsoft Mobile Explorer wireless communication platform for feature phones and the Microsoft smart phone platform. Microsoft based phone have not met with any particular success so far, but a push seems to on to claim even half way respectable market share. For instance the largest Finnish net store Anttila is selling Samsung SGH-i320 for EUR 500. The phone run Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system and it has qwerty-keyboard. Microsoft is getting help from an unexpected direction. The SCO Group, a provider of UNIX software technology and mobile services, has announced the availability of HipCheck, a mobile administration solution. The program combines system monitoring and alerts with secure mobile intervention, allowing technicians to detect, diagnose and correct many common system problems through Windows mobile phones. MobileMonday Helsinki will focus on Windows Mobile in its November 6 meeting.