Microsoft back in smartphone market with Mango OS

Microsoft on Wednesday launched its Windows Phone platform in India, hoping to take on Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android devices in the highly lucrative and crucial smartphone market. The company said that its smartphones-made by hardware partners likeHTC, Samsung, Acer and Nokia-will run on Windows Phone 7.5, also called Mango.

"We are excited about today’s unveiling of Windows Phone. With Windows Phone, we have looked at the consumer experience in an absolutely fresh way, and the end result is an operating system that is stylish and innovative," said Bhaskar Pramanik, chairman at Microsoft India. Unlike Android and Apple’s iOS, Mango uses an interface based on ‘live tiles’ instead of icons.
Microsoft, which was once a major player in smartphone market with its Windows Mobile operating software, had lost ground after Apple and Google entered the market in 2007 and 2008. According to a Gartner report in August, the company had just 1.6% share in the worldwide market for smartphones in Q2, 2011.