Intel and Texas Instruments (TI) will produce reference platforms for "smart" cell phones that combine their chip sets with Microsoft's Smartphone 2002 software. The deals could reduce the development and production costs of phones based on the software, which integrates the Windows CE 3.0 operating system and personal digital assistant (PDA) applications with cell phone technologies that use next-generation wireless voice and data networks. These deals could also give the software a better chance of attracting one of the three top cell phone vendors, who have spurned it thus far.

TI Ready, Intel to Come

Similar in functionality to the Pocket PC Phone Edition, Smartphone 2002 is designed to run on smaller cell-phone-sized devices that do not use touch screens. (For more information on PPC 2002 Phone Edition, see "Pocket PC 2002 Manufacturers and Devices".) The TI and Intel platforms will both incorporate this software, but in different ways.

Texas Instruments. The TI design is already available and is based on the TCS2500 Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP) chip set. Because the chip set includes a GMS/GPRS radio, it will not be applicable to phones targeted at the emerging North American "CDMA2000 1XRTT" packet networks, such as Verizon’s new Express Network service or Sprint’s Clear Wireless Workplace service, due in mid-2002. (For more on wireless networks, see "Wireless Connectivity Options for the Pocket PC".)

Intel. Not available until later this year, the Intel platform is based on its Personal Internet Client Architecture (Intel PCA), which includes the StrongARM CPU and the PXA250 applications processor. However, Intel’s design does not include a radio, so cell phone manufacturers will have to integrate the radio components themselves. Intel is also producing a similar reference platform for the Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition.

Deals Could Unblock Smartphone Efforts

Microsoft hopes its agreements with TI and Intel provide the push needed to break into the smart phone market. Although Microsoft and cell phone manufacturers HTC, Mitsubishi, Samsung, and Sendo announced intentions over a year ago to deliver Smartphone 2002–based cell phones, none have made it to market yet.

By introducing standard designs, Microsoft and its partners hope to attract cell phone vendors and speed development by creating volume opportunities such as lower component prices, similar to those created by hardware and software standards for Windows-based personal computers. Sendo reportedly will ship a TI-based Smartphone this month, and Compal, a Taiwanese manufacturer of GSM/GPRS mobile phones for the OEM market, announced that it would produce Windows-powered Smartphones also utilizing the TI design (although no dates were announced).

Microsoft has also made some progress on the carrier front. European network providers mm02, Orange, T-Mobil (Deutche Telekom), Telefónica Móviles, and Vodafone, and North American carriers Cingular, Sprint, Verizon, and VoiceStream all plan to offer service plans and applications aimed at the Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition platforms during 2002.

The Intel and TI platforms could give Smartphone a boost against competitors such as the Palm OS and the Symbian smart phone operating system, which is supported by a consortium of Ericsson, Motorola, and Nokia, the three top phone vendors. However, TI’s deal with Microsoft is not exclusive—it has similar deals with Nokia to support Symbian phones and with Palm and Handspring to support PalmOS-based hybrid PDA/cell phone devices.

Service Provider VP Takes Command

Leading the company's new wireless push will be Pieter Knook, head of the company's Network Service Provider Division. Reporting to Knook will be Ben Waldman's Mobile Device Division and Juha Christensen's Mobility Marketing and Sales Group. Both groups formerly reported directly to Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer.

For more information on Smartphone 2002, see www.microsoft.com/mobile/phones/smartphone.