Microsoft introduces operating system for cell phones

Microsoft Corp. knows the cell phone world is where it's happening, and it's determined to be a part of it.

After years of declining sales of phones based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, the company is starting with a fresh slate -- a completely new operating system for phones.

The new handsets will go up against Apple Inc.'s highly popular iPhone and the expanding number of phones running on Google Inc.'s Android operating system.

The first phone with Windows Phone 7 Series will be the Samsung Focus, which hits AT&T Inc. stores Nov. 8 for $200 with a two-year contract requirement, Microsoft said Monday. It will be closely followed by two more phones for AT&T and one for T-Mobile.

In May, Microsoft launched another new phone software package, Kin, only to yank it about two months later in the face of dismal sales. Windows Phone 7 Series is a different beast, and Microsoft is putting its full weight behind it.

In all, Microsoft announced nine phones for the U.S. market on Monday, including one from Dell Inc., and has lined up 60 carriers in 30 countries to carry Windows Phone 7.

In the most recent quarter, Microsoft's older system, Windows Mobile, accounted for 5 percent of the worldwide smart phone market. That compares with 41 percent for Symbian (mainly used by Nokia Corp.), 18 percent for Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry phones, 17 percent for Android and 14 percent for the iPhone, according to research firm Gartner Inc.

From a hardware standpoint, the Windows 7 phones are indistinguishable from high-end Android phones: They have big touch screens, and a few models have slide-out keyboards.

The Windows 7 phones are centered around "tiles" on the front screen that are supposed to tell the user about important new information, such as e-mail and Facebook status update. Both the iPhone and Android are fundamentally more application-centered -- the user taps on an application to see new information.