Vodafone has signed an agreement with Microsoft to develop software to enable the roll out of new services on mobile phones.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vodafone and Microsoft will work in close co-operation aiming to ensure that Vodafone applications and services are tightly integrated with a Windows Mobile experience, resulting in improved mobile phone functionality as well as an enhanced mobile experience for customers.
The Microsoft platform will complement Vodafone's existing terminal platform portfolio.
As the platform proposal with Windows Mobile embraces the wider Microsoft developer community, Vodafone anticipates an increase in the breadth of applications and content created for mobile phones. The partnership will also enable Vodafone to access Microsoft's expertise to help speed up convergence between mobile devices and computers. Additionally, it is expected to reduce time to market for new products and encourage customers to new services.
Over the next five years, Vodafone expects to focus on supporting three standard terminal platforms across its portfolio of mobile phones: Microsoft Windows Mobile, Symbian/S60 and Linux. The first device to use the software produced under the agreement is planned to be with Samsung and is expected to launch in the first half of 2007.
