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Oct. 7, 2009

Late yesterday, Microsoft has officially announced its new line of Windows Mobile phones at the same time that the software giant is launching its new mobile apps store, Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

Microsoft also added that AT&T will be carrying two WinMo-based HTC handsets, the HTC Pure and the HTC Tilt 2.

The HTC Pure is available now and the Tilt 2 will be available around Oct. 27.

Microsoft plans to launch more than thirty new Win-Mo smartphones in at least twenty countries around the world by the end of 2009.

Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless and Sprint are also part of the global launch. Verizon is now carrying the HTC Imagio.

Sprint said it plans to have the WinMo-based Samsung Intrepid this coming Sunday.

Microsoft's new mobile app store is launching with no less than 247 mobile applications, including Facebook, Netflix and restaurant review guide Zagat.com.

All mobile applications are certified and have been tested by Microsoft and are backed by a money back return policy. The company said it has about 750 ISVx on board to build out its apps catalog.

However, Microsoft didn't provide any specific timeline on the build-out but did say that its new app store would "continue to evolve" over the next few months.

The company is also leveraging its popular Windows operating system from the PC space by allowing WinMo phones to use PowerPoint and open and edit Word and Excel documents.

The company's goal is to allow wireless subscribers to seamlessly integrate content into their mobile handset, according to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Ballmer said "we all want to connect quickly to the people and information that's important to us from across our lives at work and at home. A Windows smartphone lets people take their entire world of digital information, communications, applications and entertainment with them wherever they go."

Microsoft also said it was launching customizable themes for its phones through windowsphone.com/theme.

It also updated its Windows Live platform with news feeds and photo sharing across major social networking sites like Twitter.

Recently, Microsoft has redesigned its Internet Explorer mobile browser platform with Adobe Flash Lite 2. The Redmond company claims the update will provide a "mobile Web browsing experience closer to what people have come to expect from their PC."

In the next few days, it will be interesting to see if Apple apps developers will make available new applications that will compete head on with Microsoft's newly-launched app store.

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    This article was featured on Business 5.0 and on Tech Blog.

Source: Microsoft.