Microsoft “Crossbow” to Target BlackBerry and Symbian

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Microsoft “Crossbow” to Target BlackBerry and Symbian

7:00 am on May 23, 2006 | Category: Business, Mobile Devices, Messaging, Software

Software giant, Microsoft, is continuing its quest to carve out a larger slice of the market for mobile operating systems, with a new product code-named Crossbow.

This new operating system will place a strong focus on wireless instant messaging, according to a company executive. It will also feature strong links with Office 2007 and Exchange 12, Microsoft’s forthcoming office and email server applications.

This will likely put Crossbow in direct competition with the Symbian and BlackBerry operating systems used by so many wireless email devices.

Microsoft’s senior VP of telecom and mobile devices, Pieter Knook, says that it’s hard to say when exactly Crossbow will hit the market, but that the company hopes to offer annual updates to its mobile operating system in the years to come.

Such an aggressive strategy, combined with the software giant’s recently launched push email software, is an obvious attempt to dethrone Research in Motion’s BlackBerry device, which still leads the wireless email market with about 5 million customers worldwide.