London, Sept 15: US software giant Microsoft and cellphone maker Motorola said on Monday they had teamed up with Orange and AT&T Wireless to sell their first high-tech mobile phones. Hoping to catch crucial Christmas sales, French-owned Orange will sell the Motorola phone powered by Microsoft software from October. US AT&T Wireless and an unnamed Hong Kong group will follow suit later in the quarter.

In a move to dig deeper into the vast mobile phone markets of Europe, Asia and the United States, Motorola told Reuters in February it planned to join forces with Microsoft to create a range of devices. Their first phone is aimed at ‘professional consumers’.

Unlike most new phones on the market, the black and metallic blue clam-shell MPx200 has no integrated camera. But it allows customers to synchronise e-mails, calendar and contacts on their phones with Microsoft's desktop computer software, download and listen to music, view video clips, play games and browse Internet websites.
Microsoft is hoping the alliance with the world's number two mobile phone maker will provide the key to the potentially lucrative market that sells 450 million handsets per year. Bureau Report