Microsoft smart phones target Christmas market

MICROSOFT launches its latest entry into the smart phone market today in readiness for the Christmas shopping season.

Three new models will run on the company’s new mobile software in a test of whether Microsoft can catch up with rivals in the fast-growing market.

The new handsets will go up against both the iPhone and the expanding number of phones running on Google’s Android operating system.

The devices represent one step in an uphill struggle.

In the most recent quarter, the company’s existing phone software accounted for just 5% of the worldwide smart phone market, compared with 41% for Nokia’s Symbian system, 18% for Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, 17% for Android and 14% for the iPhone.

Microsoft chief executive Steven Ballmer said the new software will power “a very different kind of phone” than customers are used to. “We want you to get in, get out and back to your life.”

The iPhone prompted a generation of look-alike smart phones, with screenfuls of tiny square icons representing each programme. Microsoft has instead relied more on clickable words and images generated by content. A weather programme might show a constantly updated snapshot of weather conditions; photo or music libraries would be represented by a recent snapshot or the cover of the last album played on the device.