Microsoft, Motorola team up on mobile phone

Motorola will introduce its first Windows-based cellular phone in Hong Kong next month.

The deal is a coup for Microsoft, which has struggled for the past four years to gain credibility in the mobile phone market, and its Smartphone operating platform.

'This represents a key milestone for our business, to bring together Motorola's expertise in designing and engineering handsets with our software capability,' said Andy Haon, director of product and solutions management for Microsoft.

While Motorola hopes the new phones will help it chip away at Nokia's big lead in the global handset market, Microsoft is still little-tested in mobile phones, despite its powerhouse status in desktops, on the internet and in video games. The move is part of a push to get its software into nearly anything that connects to the internet.

Details of the partnership emerged on the internet last week, with a number of websites identifying the new mobile as the MPx200. With a clamshell shape and integrated antenna, the phone's design echoes that of Mitac's Microsoft-enabled phone - the Mio 8380.

At 118 grams, the Mpx200 is a little lighter and smaller than the QTek Smartphone sold by Synergy. <90,-37>The phone is aimed at <243>executives on the go and designed for easy e-mail use, messaging, internet surfing and synchronising with a personal computer, said Microsoft and Motorola. It can also play MP3 files and video.