Microsoft becomes third DoCoMo platform

FOR A good two years, NTT DoCoMo has maintained that it has just two platforms for building handsets for its 3G network - Symbian and Linux. Now Taiwan's HTC seems to have snuck the Beast's Windows Mobile 5.0 in via the back door.

Almost unnoticeably, sales of the HTC Z from late July 2006 were announced by the pair. There are two main features.

Firstly, the device is compatible with Windows Server and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2. Secondly this is a 3G plus 3GSM device. So it is obviously aimed at corporate users who travel frequently outside Japan.

It's another warning shot for Symbian who reacted badly to a previous INQ story when we revealed that Linux as well as Symbian was going to be used for DoCoMo's 3G handsets.

It could well be the Beast's first major foot in the door when it comes to grabbing a serious share of the smartphone market. µ

See Also
DoCoMo only has access to some Symbian code