CANNES, France, Feb. 19, 2001 — Tomorrow at the 3GSM World Congress, Microsoft Corp. will hold a worldwide preview of its smart phone platform, currently code-named
“Stinger,”
the software powering a new generation of color mobile phones with advanced mobile Internet and personal information management (PIM) functionality. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Sendo Ltd., the first publicly announced hardware manufacturers for the platform, will demonstrate prototype devices at the 3GSM World Congress running beta
“Stinger”
software, and Trium announced plans to build a
“Stinger” based smart phone.
“Stinger”
sets a new standard for smart phone size and functionality, designed specifically to take advantage of 2.5G and 3G broadband wireless networks and enable a wealth of services such as secure corporate and Web access, e-mail and up-to-date PIM.
Today’s customers want their data but do not want to compromise phone size, functionality and design. Built from day one to be a great phone platform,
“Stinger”
delivers the following:
-
Small size, lightweight. Thirty percent smaller than today’s average phone in Europe or the United States, weighing less than 110 grams
-
Long battery life. Up to 100 hours standby time with screen on and PIM active; four hours talk time, on par with today’s cell phones
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Large color screen or economical gray-scale display. Resolution of up to 208×240 pixels for great readability
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Personalized features. Selectable ring tones, foreign-language support and support for a wide range of expansion options including Secure Digital, Solid State Floppy Disk Card and memory sticks
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Performance on a low-cost processor. ARM processors starting at 60 Mhz
“Users’ experience with smart phones is disappointing because functionality has not met expectations,”
said Juha Christensen, vice president of mobility at Microsoft.
“Mobile operators around the world are excited about ‘Stinger’ because it mobilizes the Internet and puts great PIM functionality into a small high-quality phone.”
“Stinger”
is designed to be a great phone, but what makes it a true smart phone is its ability to keep people connected to a plethora of personal and business information, single-handedly. Microsoft brings its expertise in software to smart phones by developing a core experience that includes the following:
-
An intuitive interface designed for one-handed operation, which means users are never more than a few clicks away from the information they want
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Outlook® companion, which enables users to take their contacts, calendar and essential information with them
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Mobile Internet Explorer, which provides the richest Internet access on a phone with seamless browsing experience between WAP and HTML sites, supporting key standards such as SSL, XML, JScript® development software and WML script
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A robust e-mail client, which allows users to access all corporate and personal e-mail
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A unified inbox, which lets users manage their SMS, voice mail and multiple e-mail accounts in one location
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The best synchronization, which makes sure that users’ information is always up to date using either desktop sync via USB or over-the-air sync
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Optimized performance at today’s 9,600 data rates scaling to tomorrow’s 2.5 and 3G networks
“Microsoft is the first company to deliver a true smart phone solution, providing a functioning software platform for smart phones that doesn’t compromise either phone size or Web and PIM functionality,”
said Ben Waldman, vice president for the Mobile Devices Division at Microsoft.
About Microsoft Phone Platforms
Microsoft is delivering software to handset manufacturers and mobile operators for two phone solutions. Microsoft Mobile Explorer™
technology provides a lightweight microbrowser-based solution for mobile phones offering online services. The Microsoft smart phone platform, code-named
“Stinger,” is built on a version of the Microsoft Windows® CE 3.0 operating system specifically optimized for mobile phones to extend battery life and reduce memory requirements.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, Outlook, JScript, Mobile Explorer and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
For more information about this event:
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