Microsoft Corp on Tuesday unveiled its first Windows 10 smartphones as it launched a series of new gadgets in a bid to win a bigger share of the competitive mobile market.
The technology giant’s two premium Lumia smartphones take aim at popular devices offered by Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co and add a few original features, such as a security tool that unlocks the handset by scanning a user’s eye.
Microsoft also unveiled its first laptop, the Surface Book — which also runs the Windows 10 operating system — and whose 13.5-inch detachable screen can be used like a notepad with a matching stylus.
Photo: AFP
The launch marks the latest step by Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella to build on the July release of Windows 10, which Microsoft on Tuesday said was now running on 110 million devices around the world.
“We now begin a new chapter of Windows 10 with new devices built for Windows 10,” Nadella said at the New York launch event. “What matters most is the mobility of your experience more than the mobility of any specific device.”
The latest smartphone pitch follows a bruising rethink of the technology following Microsoft’s disastrous acquisition last year of Nokia for about US$7.2 billion. Microsoft subsequently wrote down the Nokia assets by US$7.5 billion and cut more than 25,000 jobs.
Microsoft’s Lumia 950 features a 5.2-inch high-definition screen and a 20-megapixel camera, while the Lumia 950 XL has a larger 5.7-inch screen.
The Lumia 950 is to cost US$549, while the Lumia 950 XL is to price at US$649. A third, more modest phone with fewer functions, the Lumia 550, is to start at US$139. The Lumia phones are to be launched next month.
Both phones can be connected by a small portable display dock accessory to a PC, a large screen or another display device. A keyboard or mouse can be connected, expanding the capacity of a smartphone to operate like a personal computer.
Analysts said there is little chance for Microsoft to quickly shift the dynamics of the smartphone business, in which it holds only about 3 percent, according to International Data Corp.
Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett said the handsets’ innovative eye-screening security and ability to link to other computing capacities were intriguing ideas, with the latter of particular interest to enterprises.
However, the challenge to win market share is tough because it would require consumers who have already built relationships with other smartphone systems to switch, he said.
“These are stepping stone devices,” Gillett said. “Microsoft is trying to demonstrate that it can put out competitive interesting devices with some interesting or unique features.”
Microsoft’s objective is to build a “sticky, ongoing relationship” with consumer data that transcends any device, Gillett said.
Analysts said the laptop investment was a bid to cede no further ground to rivals.
“It’s the first real credible competition we’ve seen for Apple on that side,” Technalysis president Bob O’Donnell said.
Powered by sixth-generation Intel processors with up to 12 hours of battery life, the Surface Book starts at US$1,499.
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