Microsoft Taiwan Corp has teamed up with HTC Corp (宏達電) to offer smartphone users a free upgrade to its Mango operating system (OS) in traditional Chinese, in a move to ensure its latest OS will cater to a wider user base.
Microsoft’s earlier mobile OS, Windows Phone 7, does not support traditional or simplified Chinese, but with Mango, users can input Chinese characters as the new operating system fully supports a Chinese user interface, the US company said.
Microsoft is attempting to gain a bigger share in the mobile OS market, where it faces an uphill battle against Google Inc’s Android and Apple Inc’s iOS.
Microsoft held just 2.7 percent of the smartphone OS market in the first quarter of this year, according to research firm IDC, losing ground from a year before despite a complete reworking of its mobile OS to Windows Phone 7.
HTC launched five Windows Phone 7-based smartphone models in October last year, but sold only two of them — 7 Mozart and HD7 — in Taiwan.
The company said users of those two models could visit HTC’s 50-plus retailers nationwide later this month for the upgrade.
“Because of the large-scale changes in the OS, this upgrade [Windows Phone 7 to Mango] has to be done [at HTC shops], unlike in the past when consumers could simply download the software themselves,” said Cathy Yeh (葉怡君), director of Microsoft Taiwan’s Windows client business group.
HTC will start shipping two of the market’s first Mango devices — the Radar and the Titan — next month in Europe and Asia.
The company earlier this week updated its Sensation smartphone, teaming up with rap artist Dr Dre’s Beats Electronics LLC to create the music-focused HTC Sensation XE.
HTC last month said it invested US$309 million to acquire a 51 percent stake in the headphone maker.
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