Microsoft Planning to Test ‘Smart Phone’

Microsoft will begin consumer tests of a “smart phone” this summer, extending a late but determined thrust into mobile devices that started with the PocketPC hand-held computer. The software maker planned to show off the latest prototypes of a cell phone powered by its Stinger operating system today at the 3GSM World Congress, a wireless-industry conference in Cannes, France. The Stinger is Microsoft’s attempt at squeezing the most popular features of a hand-held organizer--especially a bigger screen for e-mail and datebook functions--into a cell-phone-size package. In addition to announcing market trials with wireless carriers such as Vodafone, Microsoft also planned to announce that two new partners, Mitsubishi and Sendo, will be making phones based on Stinger. None of the world’s largest cell phone makers, including Finland’s Nokia, U.S.-based Motorola, Japan’s Matsushita and Sweden’s Ericsson, has committed to Microsoft’s smart-phone software. Stinger is part of a strategy to ensure that the company doesn’t get left behind as the focus of technology shifts from desktop computers to mobile devices. Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft is hoping its products will appeal to computer users already familiar with using its Windows operating system and other popular Microsoft programs such as Outlook.