NEW
ORLEANS--In a move that both expands Microsoft's Internet reach and
underscores its recent embrace of the communications industry, the
software giant today announced a new version of its wireless Web
portal technology.
Microsoft executives, including chairman and chief software
architect Bill Gates, unveiled MSN Mobile 2.0, the latest iteration
of Microsoft's portal Web site, which has been customized for
wireless Net connections.
As previously
reported by CNET News.com, Microsoft also announced agreements
with Nextel Communications and AirTouch Cellular, two of the
nation's largest wireless carriers, as well as 
with WebLink Wireless and Totally Free
Paging, to offer the updated portal to their subscribers.
Microsoft apparently was not able to bring several other pending
deals to fruition.
The MSN Mobile 2.0 service, expected to be available in April,
will for the first time offer two-way functions that will allow
users to both send and receive information from their
Internet-enabled phones and handheld computing devices, as well as
make Internet purchases. Microsoft's first version of the special
wireless portal only offered one-way information, and did not allow
users to access their Hotmail email accounts, one of the most
popular Web-based email services on the Net.
"They needed to add two-way features. It is very key to have
those kinds of features over the next three months as the (wireless
Net access) market takes off," said Eddie Hold, principal wireless
industry analyst for Current Analysis, a market research firm.
"It helps (Microsoft) break into the communications market and
expands their Internet presence. MSN has always been looked at as
second-rate when compared to Yahoo and AOL," Hold said.
Microsoft's strong presence here, at the cellular industry's
Wireless 2000 annual trade show, marks the latest indication of the
software giant's commitment to the communications industry. Long the
realm of Unix-based computers, Microsoft has aggressively targeted
high-end computing systems for communications companies as a desired
market--particularly as Microsoft faces saturation in the consumer
desktop arena due to its impressive market dominance there.
Executives believe the wireless industry, as much as the cable or
fiber-optic markets, represents a huge opportunity.
"Everything that we do, from our Internet properties, to the
Windows desktop, to the Office applications themselves, we're
thinking now, 'Let's get these out into that mobile space,' " Gates
told an attentive audience this morning.
According to an internal
email obtained earlier this month by CNET News.com, Microsoft
also is working other wireless partnerships that were expected to be
announced at the show. A "major deal with (British Telecom) and
AT&T" was 
revealed in the memo, as was a supposed
partnership with Sprint PCS, but Gates did not announce those
rumored alliances.
Microsoft did announce a deal with wireless technology provider
and chipmaker Qualcomm to jointly develop new wireless technologies.
The two companies, which also are joint investors in wireless data
start-up Wireless Knowledge, will work together to allow Microsoft's
microbrowser and other software work smoothly on phones based on
Qualcomm technology.
Gates likened the alliance to Microsoft's cooperation with Intel
and Compaq Computer on desktop semiconductor and PC design.
Pat Fox, Microsoft's group manager for the wireless division,
also demonstrated prototype software, tentatively called Priorities,
which prioritizes email and other information, thereby notifying
users on their cell phone, pager or other device when appropriate.
