The company is holding simultaneous press conferences in London and New York on Oct 11. Although Microsoft has given no further details about what it will announce, it is widely expected to use the event to officially launch a range of handsets based on its new Windows Phone 7 operating system.
The devices, from a variety of handset makers, including HTC and Samsung, are not expected to be available in shops until Oct 21, with US availability following a few weeks later, on Nov 8.
Microsoft has high hopes for Windows Phone 7, the successor to the company’s popular but much-maligned Windows Mobile platform.
Windows Phone 7 represents a radical departure from previous Microsoft mobile platforms, with an emphasis on social networking and device integration.
The new-look operating system interface draws heavily on the Zune, Microsoft’s US-only music player, and features “live tiles” that provide instant, one-touch access to important contacts and data. It also uses “hubs” to organise content, with an aggregated contact book forming the centre of the People hub, and multimedia content stored in the Music + Video hub.
Microsoft has faced increased competition in the mobile space from rivals such as Apple and Google, and hopes the launch of Windows Phone 7 will enable it to match up against those products in terms of form and functionality.
“If Windows Phone 7 is to have any chance of clawing its way back in to contention, it just won’t suffice to simply be as good as its rivals, it needs to be something better and different,” said Jonathan Leggett, mobile phone expert with comparison site Top10.com.
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