Intel, Microsoft highlight mobile computing advances at CTIA

In her keynote speech, Susan Delbene, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of Marketing for Mobile and Embedded Devices, identified cost, security, choice and scalability as key barriers to the growth of mobile computing. She went on to explain how Windows Mobile 5.0 addresses each of these and creates new business opportunities.

Delbene mentioned four handheld devices that effectively demonstrate the capabilities of Windows Mobile 5.0. Among these was Motorola's new I930, which will operate on Sprint's network and is the first Windows-compatible device with push-to-talk capability. Delbene also identified the Motorola Q, Sprint's touch screen PPC-6700, and Verizon Wireless' Treo Smartphone as "great devices" for which the Windows Mobile developer community is coming up with some exciting new applications.

Speaking about the architectural and delivery improvements enabled by Windows Mobile 5.0, Delbene identified the technological complexity and cost as the main weaknesses of Research in Motion's Blackberry Enterprise Server. In contrast, "Windows Mobile 5.0 facilitates control directly from the server to the device, allowing for more economical scalability," she explained.

In terms of security, Delbene presented a short video about the U.S. Army's adoption of Windows Mobile 5.0 as a de facto standard for addressing the high level of security needed for information on devices in the field.

According to Delbene, some of the future business scenarios enabled by Windows Media 5.0 include location-based services, telematics, integration with Wi-Fi, and video telephony.

Sean Maloney, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Mobility Group opened his keynote by revealing that RIM will use Intel chips in its next generation Blackberry devices.

Maloney also identified several key trends around which Intel has based its strategy over the next 12-18 months, including the further growth of Wi-Fi, notebook and smartphone adoption; the emergence of WiMAX; and the continued push towards development of open standards in mobile computing.

Maloney gave demonstrations of several notebooks equipped with Intel's next generation dual core Napa processors, and played clips of high quality video on Intel-powered smartphones. "Even the dumbest phone is going to get smarter over the next few years" as a result of Intel's next generation chips, he said.

Included in Maloney's keynote was a software defined radio implementation of GPS location based services, which he believes will be moving into notebook computers very quickly. "People have talked about location based services for a while, and the time may be right for mass market adoption," he said.