Buzz Growing Deafening For Redmond's Stinger.

Microsoft focuses in on the wireless handset market.

After nearly a year of hype, in late February Microsoft Corp. finally announced a (albeit prototypical) product based on its new technology for the mobile handset market, dubbed Stinger. In joint press conferences at Internet World Wireless in New York and the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, Redmond gave details of the phone OS and indicated that devices based on the new smart phone platform should arrive later this year (see this month's cover story on BREW).

While some details remain sketchy, this much is known: Stinger, which is based on Windows CE 3.0, will include Outlook companion for contact management; Mobile Internet Explorer for viewing Web content, including support for SSL, XML, Jscript, and WML script; a "unified" inbox for voicemail and multiple-account email management; and desktop (USB) and over-the-air synchronization. This last feature is particularly interesting and, if successful, will be the first technology that allows phones and PCs to exchange data.

"Microsoft longs to be to the wireless handset what it is to the PC," says analyst Becky Diercks, director of wireless research at Cahners In-Stat Group. "The problem is, it keeps trying but doesn't seem to be getting anywhere." Diercks notes that, historically, Microsoft has been pushing a PC and computer mentality into the phone industry, and handset manufacturers have had lukewarm reactions. "The only real taker was Ericsson, and that was over a year ago, and we have yet to see a product," Diercks says.

Microsoft has, apparently, changed its ways and has worked closely with handset manufacturers to make sure that its technology is not simply Windows CE light, a claim that continues to dog the company's development efforts in the wireless space. Phones based on Stinger will be able to send data at speeds as slow as 9.6Kbps and as fast as 128Kbps, or perhaps faster.