REDMOND, Wash.-Microsoft Corp. is bolstering its efforts in the Chinese mobile-phone market, as Chinese mobile-phone maker Dopod will sell a phone using an updated version of the software giant’s Smartphone operating system.
Dopod will be the first manufacturer in the world to sell a device using Microsoft’s Smartphone 2003 operating system. The OS is an updated version of the company’s Smartphone 2002 operating system, which is running in the Orange SPV and other devices. Microsoft said Dopod will be the first to market with the new operating system and take advantage of the platform’s improved Chinese language support.
Just last week, Microsoft began offering the Smartphone 2003 software development kit to developers worldwide through its Web site. The release of the SDK hints that Microsoft is gearing up for a major worldwide commercial launch of the new Smartphone 2003 operating system. Microsoft declined to say when it would release the Smartphone 2003 operating system outside of China.
The new Smartphone 2003 OS features the company’s .NET Compact Framework runtime, as well as enhanced application programming interfaces, native XML Web services support and an enhanced emulation environment.
Microsoft recently introduced a new version of its operating system for personal digital assistants, the Pocket PC 2003. Both the Pocket PC and Smartphone operating systems fall under the company’s recently announced Windows Mobile brand.
Founded by Dr. Yang Xingping, Dopod Communications Corp. is a joint venture with CEC, a Chinese electronics maker. The company is headquartered in Shanghai, and its production base is in Wuhan.
