Gates Launches Mobile Windows

Microsoft threw a gauntlet down in the mobile market on Tuesday with the launch of Windows Mobile 5.0, the embedded operating system it hopes will anchor a raft of wireless phones and other devices.

Speaking to a developer audience at the Mobile & Embedded Developer Conference this morning, Microsoft chief software architect Bill Gates said the new operating system is aimed at boosting user productivity with better integration between disparate devices and applications. Wireless users will have access to Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and the ability to edit, attach and send the documents they create -- a feature not doable in RIM's Blackberry.

Microsoft seems to be taking aim at multiple fronts with Windows Mobile 5.0. In addition to the integration and synchronization capabilities, which extend e-mail access via MSN's Hotmail Outlook and SMS text messaging, the OS sports a number of integrated multimedia capabilities, including the ability to take and store digital photographs and -- a la iPod -- download, play and store thousands of songs. Windows Media Player 10 Mobile is built in.

Gates said Microsoft is working with 40 device makers, including Hewlett-Packard and Samsung, and 68 mobile services providers, such as T-Mobile and Orange, that he expects will build their own brands around the OS.

Key to the rollout are ISVs and business partners, Gates added. Microsoft is positioning the OS as a platform and includes a vast library of programming interfaces and Visual Studio-based developer tools to enable partners to build an array of wireless applications, such as cell phone ring tones. Mobile providers will benefit from the ability to conduct device image updates automatically, for example. And the resulting applications will be built using managed code, ensuring much better security, Gates said.

Already, partners such as Applied Data Systems, Aton International, Intrasync, Phatware and a host of others have pledged support for creating applications on top of the platform, according to Microsoft.

"This is an industry where there is a lot going on and a lot of competition," Gates said. "The data side has to carry its weight, and not just the voice side, and that means that software comes in in a much bigger way."

Gates said more powerful CPUs are fueling advances in the new OS, and as chips grow more robust, more capabilities will be possible, especially in the realm of messaging and multimedia.

Other improvements include enhanced memory, additional storage and support for higher-bandwidth 3G networks, and Wi-Fi for the Smartphone platform. Microsoft has also augmented existing Bluetooth wireless support to tap into varying mobile phone services more seamlessly.

What remains to be seen is the ultimate pricing of such devices when they hit market, and how competitively they will stack up against the likes of Blackberry devices, which have a longstanding lead over the Redmond, Wash., software giant. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Windows CE operating system already holds a top spot in the pure PDA market, but Gates did not elaborate on how future development of CE and the new Windows Mobile 5.0 will impact one another, if at all.