NEW YORK -- Microsoft Corp. knows the cell phone world is where it's happening, and it's determined to be a part of it.
After years of declining sales of phones based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, the company is starting with a fresh slate: a new operating system for phones.
The new handsets will go up against Apple Inc.'s highly popular iPhone and the expanding number of phones running on Google Inc.'s Android operating system.
The first phone with Windows Phone 7 will be the Samsung Focus, which hits AT&T Inc. stores Nov. 8 for $200 with a two-year contract requirement, Microsoft said Monday. It will be closely followed by two more phones for AT&T, made by LG Electronics Inc. and HTC Corp., and one for T-Mobile USA, also made by HTC.
In May, Microsoft introduced a new phone software package, Kin, only to yank it about two months later in the face of dismal sales. Windows Phone 7 is a different beast.
In all, Microsoft announced nine phones for the U.S. market, including one from Dell Inc., and it has lined up 60 carriers in 30 countries to carry Windows 7 phones.
An additional U.S. carrier, Sprint Nextel Corp., is getting a Windows 7 phones in the first half of next year.
In the most recent quarter, Microsoft's older system, Windows Mobile, accounted for just 5 percent of the worldwide smartphone market. That compares with 41 percent for Symbian (mainly used by Nokia Corp.), 18 percent for Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry phones, 17 percent for Android and 14 percent for the iPhone, according to research firm Gartner Inc.
From a hardware standpoint, the Windows 7 phones are indistinguishable from high-end Android phones: They have big touchscreens, and a few models have slide-out keyboards.
To stand out from the competition, Microsoft has given the software a different look. It is centered on "tiles" on the front screen that are supposed to tell the user at a glance about important new information, such as e-mail and Facebook status update.
For example, a weather program might show a constantly updated snapshot of weather conditions; photo or music libraries would be represented by a recent snapshot or the cover of the last album played on the device.
The iPhone and Android are more application-centered -- the user has to tap on an application to see new information. However, some companies have designed overlay software for Android that's reminiscent of Windows Phone 7's information-at-glance idea.
Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said the user interface is "a huge improvement" over Windows Mobile, but Microsoft "is catching up with the competition rather than leapfrogging it."
The software is designed to work well with Microsoft's cash-cow Office applications and to connect to Xbox Live, the company's online game service.
