Cell smarter

Microsoft yesterday announced that LG Electronics had agreed to use the new mobile operating system from Microsoft in 50 of its models smartphone (smart phones), thus increasing the chances that the software manufacturer to obtain greater participation of the growing business of software for telephony mobile.

LG had previously used the software, called Windows Mobile, in a single model. Microsoft made the announcement at the opening day of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the largest convention of the wireless industry.

According to research company Gartner, the operating system software for Microsoft Windows runs more than 90% of all personal computers. But Microsoft is lagging behind its rivals on mobile software for smartphones. Symbian, the operating system developed by a consortium led by Nokia, the leading manufacturer of cell phones, is the leader in this field with 52.4% and Research in Motion, the Canadian maker of BlackBerry smart phone, followed with 16.5% of According to research firm Canalys in Reading, England.

In late 2008 Microsoft controlled 13.9% of the global market for mobile operating systems. The company expects that agreements with major manufacturers such as LG cell phone to help them to regain momentum in the field of mobile software, which is among the fastest growing segments of the global software industry.

The device of the future "The device is the mobile computing device of the future," said Bengt Nordstrom, founder and chief analyst Northstream, a company in Stockholm, which advises mobile operators and equipment manufacturers. "The mobile operating systems are the biggest battleground in the mobile industry," he explained.

The partnership with LG, Microsoft said it had agreed to use Windows Mobile as your primary operating system, enhances a series of measures to extend the brand to Windows smartphones, the fastest growing segment in the market for cellular telephony.

Microsoft also said it would open a shop called Windows applications to Windows Marketplace, which sells 20,000 applications, many of them to mobile devices.

Microsoft also introduced the latest test version of its mobile software, Mobile Windows 6.5, that he said, correcting many ponderous nature of her predecessor.

Windows Mobile 6.5 is a touch screen and a user interface that is used to appear in the Zune MP3 player from Microsoft, which replaces the menu icons curtain. Users can surf the internet without using a search engine, which is based on Microsoft Internet Explorer 6. Still, Windows Mobile 6.5 does not multitoques feature of Apple's iPhone, which according to Canalys 9.6% dominates the market for operating systems.

"We were criticized for not having a compatible interface with consumers," said Scott D. Rockfeld, director of mobile communication business of Microsoft. "This solves that."

The mobile industry is shifting its focus from hardware to software, as third generation of faster wireless networks increases the appetite of consumers for the mobile Internet and smart phones, which are advanced devices with computing power, and now rival with many desktop computers.

It is hoped that this week in Barcelona, several manufacturers of mobile devices, including the Taiwanese manufacturer HTC, the models that use the Google Android mobile system.

As part of its effort to raise their roaming profile, Microsoft announced plans to provide Windows Mobile users a free service that supports personal information and data, contact lists and photos on Microsoft servers.