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.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
RSS