Mobile phone operator Orange will launch its first Microsoft-powered handset, next month.
The new phone, the MPx200 manufactured by Motorola, will be the first product launched from a design and sales partnership formed between the company and Microsoft earlier this year.
It represents Microsoft's second attempt to gain a foothold in the lucrative market for mobile phone software. The first phone to use its software, Orange's SPV (sound, picture, video), was manufactured by Taiwan's High Tech Computer and has been sold since October 2002. But sales have lagged less sophisticated rival offerings.
The MPx200 will enable customers to synchronise e-mails, calendar and contacts on their phones with Microsoft's desktop computer software, download and listen to music, view video clips, play games and browse internet websites.
For Motorola, the second largest mobile phone maker which has seen its share of the handset market shrink over the last decade, the deal offers a chance to appeal to wireless operators looking to capture big-spending professional consumers.
Microsoft, on the other hand, has struggled to gain a strong foothold in the mobile phone market, which analysts say will grow 10 per cent next year.
The product will be priced at £239 sterling (€341) with a one-year contract from Orange. There is no word on when the phone will be available in Ireland. Motorola is currently in talks with other mobile operators about supplying the phone to other firms.
