Microsoft has been "badly shown up" in the mobile business by the likes of Apple, Palm and Research in Motion, but the software giant is planning a massive offensive when it unveils its new mobile
strategy at next week's Mobile World Congress, according to
BusinessWeek.
There, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will unveil "My Phone," a new service that allows anyone with a phone
running Windows Mobile 6 to automatically access their photos, contacts, calendar items and other data hosted on a Microsoft Web site. The service automatically uploads photos taken with the phone to
the user's My Phone site each day, allowing them to edit, view or share the photos later from a PC. And since one out of every six mobile phones are lost, damaged or stolen, storing data on My Phone
means that photos and other content won't be lost forever.
According to senior vice president Andy Lees, who's in charge of Microsoft's mobile effort, this is the first in a series of
announcements over the next 18 months designed to seamlessly connect Microsoft's Web offerings with Windows-based PCs and phones. The strategic goal is to transform Windows Mobile phones into a new
category of phones that is distinct from other so-called "smart phones." This could have huge impact if Microsoft can execute, according to the magazine.
Read the whole story at BusinessWeek »