Two wins for Microsoft's Windows Media platform in the mobile space could help the company compete with Apple for portable digital media players and underlying technology platforms. The deals were announced at the Feb. 2006 3GSM World Congress, a trade show for the mobile phone industry.

Motorola Handsets

Future Motorola handsets will support selected Microsoft audio formats, including Windows Media Audio (WMA) Professional, a codec that can compress standard-definition audio to very low bit rates (24Kbps to 96Kbps) for delivery over wireless phone networks. The handsets will also support Windows Media digital rights management (DRM), which enforces restrictions set by content owners and distributors, and the Media Transfer Protocol, which enables PC users to transfer files to a device using the Windows Media Player.

The Motorola deal could encourage more wireless carriers to use the Windows Media platform to build over-the-air digital music services—that is, services that allow users to download songs directly to their phones rather than having to transfer them from a PC. Verizon began offering WMA Professional music downloads through its V CAST service in Jan. 2006, but only three handsets support music playback via the service.

The deal is also significant because Motorola includes a mobile version of Apple's iTunes software on several handsets. However, these phones have not sold particularly well. One possible reason is their limited functionality: the phones do not allow users to transfer songs over the air—only from a PC or Macintosh with iTunes—and currently have a 100-song limit even if the phone has more storage space available. (The limit is mandated by Apple, which does not want to cut into its lucrative iPod business.) Other statistics suggest that consumers simply favor dedicated music players over music-capable phones: since Aug. 2005, Sony Ericsson has sold 3 million Walkman-branded phones that can play MP3 files, but Apple sold 14 million iPods in the fourth quarter of 2005 alone.

Microsoft announced a similar arrangement with Nokia in Jan. 2005, but delivery of those phones has been delayed. Nokia blamed the delay on the difficulty of incorporating Windows Media DRM into the phones.

TV to Smartphones

Microsoft also announced that Virgin Mobile will deliver live TV broadcasts to mobile phone subscribers using BT's Movio service, which is built on the Windows Media platform. Movio, which will launch in 2006, will also include more than 350 radio stations.

Only one model of Windows Mobile Smartphone from HTC can receive the service, and even though Microsoft is making headway with WMA in the mobile phone space, most major handset manufacturers do not yet support Windows Media Video.