Microsoft to focus on ‘phablet’

MICROSOFT yesterday unveiled Windows Phone software for smartphone-tablet hybrids, and more powerful chips, as it plays catch-up to Google and Apple in the mobile device arena.

MICROSOFT yesterday unveiled Windows Phone software for smartphone-tablet hybrids, and more powerful chips, as the company plays catch-up to Google and Apple in the mobile device arena.

A bigger start menu, with higher resolution displays, will enable the software to run on phones with five-inch and six-inch screens for the first time, Microsoft said yesterday in a blog post.

After losing out in smartphones and tablets to Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iOS software, Microsoft is trying to appeal to consumers in the middle.

Global shipments of socalled “phablets” will more than double to 60.4million this year, research firm IHS predicted in January. That is a fraction of the more than a billion smartphones researcher IDC expects to be shipped.

Nokia, which is selling its handset unit to Microsoft for $7.2bn, released a promotion for its October 22 Nokia World event, featuring an image of a “phablet“.

Microsoft is acquiring the business in a bid to jump-start its phone efforts, while also trying to lure other manufacturers to its mobile operating system.

Windows Phone’s 3.7% share of the smartphone operating system market in the second quarter compares with 79% for Android and 13% for iOS, according to IDC.

Terry Myerson, head of Microsoft’s operating systems unit, tried to reignite HTC Corporation’s interest in the Windows Phone last month, said people familiar with the discussions. CEO Steve Ballmer and other executives met handset makers during a trip to Beijing to try to line up new partners and shore up current agreements, said a person with knowledge of their trip.