Barcelona (dpa) – Microsoft foresees major growth for its Windows Phone operating system for smartphones coming up in China and parts of Asia, a senior executive of the US-based company said Monday. The software will be released in a wider range of Asian languages, Terry Myerson, who oversees Windows Phone, said at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The system is currently only offered in five languages worldwide. The company is also to put more effort to winning market share among budget phones. A new platform version, Tango, will assist device developers who want a wide range of functions in phones with lower-capacity processors and more limited memory, Microsoft said. Nokia unveiled the same day its new Lumia 610 model, one of the lowest-priced phones running Windows. Nokia spoke of the phone costing 189 euros (254 dollars), although it specified that in Germany, the biggest European market, the device would cost 259 euros including tax. “We see big demand worldwide for smartphones under 150 euros,” Microsoft executive Achim Berg told dpa. He said Windows Phone was gaining on the two much bigger operating systems offered by Google (Android) and Apple. “The market has not been settled yet. There is definitely a place left for a third supplier,” Berg said. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/l33uj Tags: China, Microsoft, Mobile, Telecom Section: East Asia, Tech
