'Stinger' Phone Tests to Begin

LAS VEGAS -- Microsoft's much-talked-about smart-phone operating system will enter carrier trials this quarter, a Microsoft executive says.

Mobile phone handsets running the operating system--code-named Stinger--will enter trials this quarter with carriers including VoiceStream Wireless in the United States, T-Mobil International in Germany, and Telstra in Australia, says Mary E. Starman, product manager with Microsoft's Mobile Devices Division.

Microsoft's Stinger platform will be used on smart phones manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric, Sendo, Samsung Electronics, and Taiwan's High Tech Computer. The last deal was announced by Microsoft President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer in a speech here Tuesday at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association Wireless 2001 conference.

Stinger Could Ship This Year

Although Starman says it is still too early to say which carrier will test which handset, all four handsets could be released to the public in the fourth quarter of this year.

"As the trials shake out, we'll have a better idea of which will come to market first," Starman says.

The announcement that HTC will manufacture a smart phone using Stinger topped off a flurry of announcements Ballmer made at the conference, including a new model of Hewlett-Packard's Jornada, which runs Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system. Ballmer also announced that Mitsubishi Wireless Communications will launch two phones in the first quarter of next year featuring Microsoft's Mobile Internet Explorer, a miniature version of Microsoft's Web browser. After all that, what comes next for Microsoft?

"What we need to do now is work with developers to bring something to market that will meet expectations," Starman says. "In the next six to nine months, we'll be focusing on delivering on our promises."