Motorola goes after pocket Windows market

Motorola plans to put its DragonBall processors on wireless devices running Microsoft's Windows CE operating system.

Motorola joins chip-makers STMicroelectronics, NeoMagic, Texas Instruments, Hynix Semiconductor, Samsung and Intel in offering processors optimised for Internet-enabled wireless devices that operate on Windows CE and .Net software programs.

Pete Shinyeda, Motorola vice-president and general manager of its wireless and broadband systems group, said the pairing of Windows CE with DragonBall processors gave added flexibility to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of Internet-ready mobile phones and personal digital assistant (PDA) devices.

'The benefits to consumers are longer battery life and more features, often at lower prices,' he said.

Motorola's move to the Microsoft camp could throw a spanner into Intel's plan to make its XScale-based chips the preferred processors for Windows-based wireless devices, paralleling the Intel and Microsoft dominance inside personal computers.

International Data Corp analyst Manny Lopez said: 'Motorola seems to be hedging its bets just like Samsung, as both vendors support Windows CE, Palm and Symbian as the operating systems for wireless devices.'

He said the DragonBall processor already had a large customer base among Asian OEMs.