The Windows Phone 7 is seen at the Windows Phone 7 launch news conference in New York October 11, 2010. ©Reuters

BEIJING, Jan. 27 — Software giant Microsoft said on Wednesday it sold more than 2 million copies of its new Windows Phone 7 operating system to handset makers in 2010.

That number represents the software units licensed to mobile handset makers such as Samsung, LG and HTC, not necessarily consumers.

A Wall Street Journal report said this figure is neither high nor low enough to declare the product a success or failure.

The new phone software was launched last October, and the company shipped 1.5 million units to phone makers and mobile operators late December.

Microsoft said early research suggested that 93 percent of customers are satisfied with the Windows Phone 7 devices, and 90 percent would recommend it to others.

The handset software is expected to counter Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android system. Last week Apple declared 16.2 million iPhones were sold in the fourth quarter of last year. 

On Xinhua Web site: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2011-01/27/c_13709412.htm

Citing several Google employees, the FT said the internal directive to move to other operating systems began in January and could end the use of Windows at Google, which employs more than 10,000 workers internationally.

“We’re not doing any more Windows. It is a security effort,” a Google employee was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Google has so far declined to confirm the report.

“We’re always working to improve the efficiency of our business, but we do not comment on specific operational matters,” Google said in a statement.

Microsoft responded to this report Wednesday, defending its Windows security.

“When it comes to security, even hackers admit we’re doing a better job making our products more secure than anyone else, ” Microsoft said in its blog post.

Last November, Google unveiled its own operation system, Chrome OS, to challenge Microsoft Windows. Google promised to release it by late this year. 

On Xinhua Web site: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2010-06/02/c_13329146.htm

A new smart phone called “Kin One” is introduced at a Microsoft news conference in San Francisco, California April 12, 2010. Microsoft Corp launched two new phones aimed at young people on Monday, marking a fresh assault on the low end of the growing smartphone market, where BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd and Apple Inc now dominate. ©Reuters

BEIJING, April 13 — Microsoft on Monday unveiled two new mobile phones dubbed “Kin One” and “Kin Two,” aiming at young consumers who emphasize social networking.

Both the new Kin phones have touch screens, slide-out QWERTY keyboards and cameras, and are powered by Windows Phone 7 Series software which Microsoft launched in February.

Kin One is smaller, designed to be used with only one hand, while Kin Two has a larger screen and keyboard and more memory.

Touting the Kin as a new kind of “social phone,” Microsoft said its new handset will have a fun and simple interface that can automatically bring together feeds from Facebook and other leading social networking services all in one place, making it easier for users to stay connected.

“Social’s part of the DNA of this phone,” said Derek Snyder, a product manager at Windows Mobile, at an unveiling event for the new phones in San Francisco, “social networks are the cornerstone of this experience.”

“Kin is an interesting attempt to target the 15 to 25 market,” said Ross Rubin, consumer electronics and wireless industry analyst at market research firm NPD Group.

“Even if the device does not turn out to be successful, Microsoft is introducing some concepts that might be useful,” Rubin added.

The two new phones are being manufactured by Japan’s Sharp, and will be sold in the United States by U.S. telecom carrier Verizon Wireless online in early May and in stores shortly thereafter.

The phones will also be available in Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain in the fall by Vodafone Group PLC, which owns Verizon Wireless in partnership with Verizon Communications Inc. 

On Xinhua Web site: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2010-04/13/c_13248722.htm

The alliance between the world’s largest software company and the world’s biggest manufacturer of cellphones would help Microsoft play a broader role in mobile devices, as well as strengthen its Office business in competition with those free online applications provided by Google, Sun Microsystems and others.

Microsoft already produces a version of Office for cellphones running Windows Mobile, but there is also other software that allows users to open Office files on BlackBerrys and other devices.

Next year Microsoft will bring out the latest version of the Office product, Office 2010, including its first web-based version that allow users to access the applications online.

The announcement is to be made by Stephen Elop, president of Microsoft’s business division, and Kai Oistamo, executive vice president for Nokia’s devices unit. Microsoft has so far declined to comment on the report. 

On Xinhua Web site: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/12/content_11868920.htm

About 15 months after Microsoft’s unsuccessful bid to buy Yahoo, the two companies successfully made a deal that Yahoo will have Microsoft’s search technology used on its websites.

In this deal, Yahoo will completely give up its own efforts in web search to challenge Google, and instead rely on Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Ads placed next to Yahoo’s search results would be served up not by Yahoo’s own ad platform, but by a Microsoft technology called AdCenter.

The two companies will split the revenue generated from the ads.

The partnership between Microsoft and Yahoo would help the two companies to compete with the dominant Google in the search market.

In a most recent report, Yahoo’s search engine ranks No. 2 with a worldwide market share of 8 percent, while Google holds 67 percent of the global share. In the United States, Google’s share is 65 percent compared to about 20 percent for Yahoo. 

On Xinhua Web site: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/29/content_11791978.htm