Windows Mobile gets Flexible

Microsoft announced a partnership on Sunday with phone maker Flextronics to market a new mobile phone platform running Windows Mobile to phone makers and service providers.

The two companies said they had jointly developed a new phone platform called Peabody - a blueprint that mobile providers can customise - that would cut production costs.

Peabody runs on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) networks - the world's most widespread wireless standard - and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), the data delivery arm of GSM networks.

Pieter Knook, senior VP of the mobile and embedded devices division and communications sector business at Microsoft, said in a statement: "Microsoft is providing smarter, advanced mobile solutions and creating business models that help mobile operators generate new revenue streams."

The Singapore-based mobile phone maker said the Peabody platform offers original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) access to more than 18,000 applications for product line customisation.

Tom Deitrich, Flextronics' vice president of original design and manufacturing, said in a statement: "As mobile phones become increasingly customised consumer products, OEMs are under pressure to produce low-cost, feature-rich phones that address the demands of this growing market. Through ODM mobile phone platforms such as Peabody, Flextronics is providing OEMs with a cost-effective way to quickly expand their product lines and respond to market demands."

The announcement was made during the first day of the 16th annual 3GSM World Congress, a mobile industry gathering in Cannes, France.

Steven Musil writes for CNET News.com.