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View Full Version : Microsoft Smart Phones Come Calling


Jason Dunn
03-17-2002, 06:11 AM
<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,89223,tk,dn031502X,00.asp">http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,89223,tk,dn031502X,00.asp</a><br /><br />The Sendo Smartphone 2002 is a thing of beauty. We'll publish some pictures on Monday.<br /><br />"Mobile-phone maker Sendo is preparing deals with both European and U.S. mobile phone operators for the launch later this year of its Z100, a combination phone-PDA based on Microsoft's Windows Powered Smartphone 2002 platform, the company said Friday. The first devices are expected to be on the streets in the second half of this year, said Hugh Brogan, Sendo's chief executive officer, at a news conference here. He declined to name the operators that would offer the handsets, but said the advanced phones "will show up in Spain quite early, as well as in France, the U.K., and possibly Germany."<br /><br />A deal with a "national U.S. operator" will be announced at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association event in Florida next week, he added. The Sendo Z100 is expected to be the first Microsoft Windows Powered Smartphone 2002-based, mobile-phone and PDA hybrid on the market. South Korea's Samsung Electronics, the only major mobile-phone maker working on a phone running the Microsoft software, this week said it does not expect to release its handset until the fourth quarter."

Trade Wind
03-17-2002, 07:56 AM
:lol: $10 bucks says that U.S. national operator is....Verizon.

Virtual $10 of course. :?

mgd
03-17-2002, 11:04 AM
It's hard to believe that we here in Spain are actually going to get something early. I think that Microsoft has teamed up with Spain's Telefonica.

Teddy
03-17-2002, 04:02 PM
yes, it's incredible huh? mgd? :wink: you're right, it'll be because of Telefonica's alliance with Microsoft...cool at least once we'll see new devices here first than in the rest of the world!!!

JMountford
03-17-2002, 06:05 PM
Not to correct, but I will take that Ten Dollars right now. Verizon is a CDMA carrier. The Smartphones coming out in the imediate future will be GPS/GPRS. That means that the Sendo and TI phones WILL NOT work on Verizon or Sprint services. Now that leaves Cingular, AT&T, and Voicestream with GRPS coverage in the states. Odds say the phone will not be for AT&T. AT&T is not a great innovator as far as phones other than Nokia. SO that leaves either Cingular or Voicestream. My educated guess is that the carrier will be Voicestream. Voicestream seems to be on the cutting edge when it comes to handsets. They like to provide their customers with a variety of choices. Cingular offers almost no choices.

mgd
03-17-2002, 07:14 PM
yes, it's incredible huh? mgd? :wink: you're right, it'll be because of Telefonica's alliance with Microsoft...cool at least once we'll see new devices here first than in the rest of the world!!!


I only hope that the phones come with multiple languages built in like regular mobile phones do, instead of WinCE. That way we won't have to wait for localised software updates and the inevitable service packs because you can bet that Spain would not be first to get the updates. :(

Teddy
03-17-2002, 07:32 PM
yes, what would be the use of having the phone if there is no support locally???
I guess that we will have to wait and see...but I look forward to have the chance to play with one of this babies :D

Trade Wind
03-17-2002, 11:49 PM
Not to correct, but I will take that Ten Dollars right now. Verizon is a CDMA carrier. The Smartphones coming out in the imediate future will be GPS/GPRS.


JMountford...you are quite right! Would you believe I made that post last night running on 2hours of sleep? :P

I was in geek talk mode with a friend this morning and corrected my own thinking with regard to who will be the first U.S. national operator to provide Windows Powered Smartphones. Provided that Voicestream's corporate parent, Deutsch Telekom announced a major alliance last week with Microsoft...and that Voicestream was Microsoft's initial U.S. test partner (remember the early stinger shots showing the devices were running on Voicestream?)...your correction makes much sense.

That said...I've seen a couple of internal documents showing Verizon hot to trot in the Smartphone space. Microsoft is hard at work on bringing Smartphone compatibility to the CDMA radio layer.

JMountford
03-18-2002, 12:16 AM
Trade Wind I hope you are right about Microsoft trying to get CDMA OEMs to make Handsets. I am with Sprint PCS so I would love to see CDMA Smartphones. It just seems that so far all Smartphones are geared for GPRS even Smartphones that ARE NOT Microsoft are almost exclusively GPRS.

Now it would be nice if the Samsung rumor were true and the Samsung smartphone would be running on the Microsoft OS. Unfortunately I hear that Samsung will be using the Symbian OS.

I also have heard from a couple of Sprint Employees that Sanyo is going to release a Smartphone type device around midsummer.

Trade Wind
03-18-2002, 08:06 AM
We were both wrong...but first SprintPCS:

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Symbol=US:MSFT&Feed=RTR&Date=20020318&ID=1494860

and Stinger with Cingular: http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.asp?Symbol=US:MSFT&Feed=RTR&Date=20020318&ID=1494858

Samsung *is* working with Microsoft on a SmartPhone. But Samsung is hedging their bets and working on both sides of the fence. Samsung says to look for it in the 4qtr.

JMountford
03-18-2002, 03:52 PM
Wow Tradewind thanks for the links. First of all I am going to ask how you found them.

Second of all Yeah my first choice was Voicestream and apparently I was wrong, but my second choice WAS Cingular, so maybe I haven't lost all my marbles. I do know that Voicestream already offers GPRS services. They call it I-Stream and they have had it going for a while now.

I read both of the articles. It seams like Smartphone was only mentioned as heading towards the Cingular camp. I will say that almost all phones that will work on the Cingular Network will work on Voicestream's network with simple reprogramming.

It seems in reading the article that the Vera or Versa or whatever will be a CDMA PPC that both Sprint PCS and Verizon will be selling. I sincerely hope the device will be an XScale PPC otherwise no go. I had heard allready that Sprint has new devices coming out I had been givin some details of a Toshiba device so I figured it would be Audiovox by the time it goes public. I am told there is supposed to be a Toshiba/Audiovox phone coming out with a camera and color screen in the next few months. Time will tell.

I was kinda hoping to see Smartphone news instead of Win Poc 2002 Phone Ed. I would rather have a smartphone as I do not want to buy a new pocket pc untill there are X Scale devices running Pocket PC with Bluetooth and maybe WiFI.

JMountford
03-18-2002, 03:54 PM
When I said Vera/Versa I meant Thera.

Kre
03-19-2002, 10:20 AM
Wireless... what a confusing mess this industry is in. I just hope that these wireless manufacturers and carriers quickly figure out what theyre going to do, and that these MS smartphones and pocket pc phone edition devices hurry up and come out so that this ridiculous puzzle begins to clear up allowing us to all make sense of everything.