Smartphones Arrive as Sendo Departs

Microsoft has both enjoyed a victory and suffered a setback in its campaign to get Windows into the cell phone market. The first Windows-powered Smartphones are finally available in the United Kingdom through Orange SA, a France-based cellular carrier—albeit more than a year later than originally expected—and three other European countries are soon to follow. However, Sendo, a British cell-phone manufacturer, abruptly cancelled plans to release its Z-100 Smartphone after two years of development and only weeks from its planned ship date.

Smartphone is a software platform and an accompanying hardware reference standard for a new type of cell phone with capabilities similar to the Pocket PC Phone Edition, except that Smartphones are smaller and do not use a touch screen. Smartphones are designed for users who are more “voice-centric” and who will accept smaller screens and a user interface designed for one-hand keypad-driven input. (For more information on Smartphones, see “Wireless WAN Strategy Takes Shape” on page 14 of the Nov. 2002 Update.)