Finally, something sweet from Microsoft

Microsoft unveiled the latest version of its mobile phone software Tuesday as it seeks to claw back market share from Apple and Google.
New York - Microsoft unveiled the latest version of its mobile phone software on Tuesday as it seeks to claw back market share from Apple and Google.

The Redmond, Washington-based software powerhouse said the latest version of its Windows Phone operating system, code-named "Mango," offers more than 500 new features.

Mango will be available for free to existing Windows Phone 7 customers and will ship on new phones this fall from Samsung, LG and HTC and new partners Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE.

Microsoft said it is also working on Mango handsets with new partner Nokia, the Finnish mobile phone titan which announced in February that it would begin using Microsoft's software as its smartphone operating system.

Mango comes seven months after the release of the first smartphones running Windows Phone 7, which were well received by analysts but failed to catch on with the public.

"Seven months ago we started our mission to make smartphones smarter and easier for people to do more," said Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Mobile Communications, who presented Mango to reporters at an event in New York.

"With 'Mango,' Windows Phone takes a major step forward in redefining how people communicate and use apps and the Internet, giving you better results with less effort," Lees said.

Mango uses Internet Explorer 9 as the phone's Web browser and attempts to simplify the smartphone experience.

Microsoft said Mango organises information "around the person or group people want to interact with, not the app they have to use."

It allows users to switch between text, Facebook chat and Windows Live Messenger and integrates Twitter and LinkedIn feeds.

Mango also includes "built-in Facebook check-ins and new face detection software that makes it easier to quickly tag photos and post to the Web," Microsoft said.

Technology research company Gartner said last month that Google's Android mobile operating system will power nearly half of the smartphones worldwide by the end of next year with a 49.2 percent market share.

The market share for Apple's iPhone's was forecast to remain relatively stable at 18.9 percent in 2012.

Microsoft's Windows mobile operating system will account for 5.6 percent of the smartphone market at the end of 2011 but will rise to 10.8 percent in 2012, according to Gartner.

■単語
claw
[名]
1 （鳥獣の）鉤爪(かぎづめ)（のある足）；((通例〜s))（昆虫の）つめ；（エビ・カニ・サソリなどの）はさみ；（人の，やせて長い）手. ⇒NAIL[名]2, TALON 1

2 鉤爪状の物［道具］（くぎ抜きなど）；つめ状に並んだもの.

3 ((米俗))警官.

cut [clip] the claws of ...

…を無害［無力］にする.

get [have] one's claws into [in] ...

…をつかまえて離さない；〈女性が〉…との結婚を決心する；…をいやみ［ねたみ］で攻撃する.

in [within] one's claws

(1)（人の）手中に落ちて.

(2)((おどけて))つかまえて，つかんで.

━━[動](他)

1 …を（つめ・手などで）裂く，ひっかく，つかむ，引っ張る，かきむしる

claw hold of ...
…をつめ［手］でしっかりとつかむ

The child clawed the present open.
子供は贈り物の包装をつめでひっかいて開いた.

2 …をつめ［手］で（ひっかいて）作る

claw a hole in the sand
砂浜につめで穴を掘る.

3 〈道を〉かき分けて進む；苦難を越えて達する

claw one's way up
よじ登る；努力して成功する.

4 ((米俗))〈人を〉逮捕［拘留］する.

━━(自)（←(他)）

1 つめでひっかく［裂く，掘る］((away))；（…に）つめでつかまろうとする((at ...)).

2 （…を）手探りする［して捜す］((for ...)).

3 ((スコット))（かゆい所を）軽くかく.

claw ... back／claw back ...

((英))〈物を〉（苦労・努力して）取り戻す；〈政府が〉〈交付金に見合う額を〉追加税として回収する.

Foxconn confirms 3rd death at plant linked to iPad

Foxconn Technology Co Ltd on Sunday confirmed that a third person has died following a large explosion at a plant in southwestern China on Friday that local media have linked to production of Apple's iPad 2.

The Taiwanese company, Apple Inc's main contract manufacturer for gadgets from the popular tablet to the iPhone, operates the plant in Chengdu, the capital of China's Sichuan province.

A task force led by government officials and law enforcement said preliminary findings point to an explosion of combustible dust in a duct at a polishing workshop at the plant, Foxconn said.

The company also said that all operations at that workshop remain suspended and production at all workshops doing similar work is also suspended. All other production operations at its facilities in China are running as usual, it added.

An Apple spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

In addition to the three deaths, 15 employees were hurt. Of those six, have been treated and released from hospital, Foxconn said.

Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer, is an affiliate of Taiwan's Hon Hai.

Singapore Airlines to create no-frills offshoot

SINGAPORE Airlines is creating its own low-cost carrier to take on the likes of Jetstar, Air Asia and Tiger Airways for medium and long-haul routes in the Asia-Pacific region.
The new airline - whose name is yet to be announced - will be a wholly owned subsidiary and be based out of Singapore, it was announced late last night.
Its chief executive is expected to be recruited from Singapore Airlines, but the no-frills airline will be managed independently of its parent.
While Singapore Airlines has a 32.9 per cent stake in Tiger Airways, it has no day-to-day management of the carrier - Singapore Airlines considers it as merely an equity holding, a spokeswoman said.
The new no-frills carrier was likely to compete with Tiger Airways and other low-cost carriers in the region on some routes, the spokeswoman said. It will announce its routes later.
It will recruit pilots internationally and cabin crew will be employed from Singapore, open to those with Singapore work permits. The airline will use a wide-body fleet.
''As we have observed on short-haul routes within Asia, low-fare airlines help stimulate demand for travel, and we expect this will also prove true for longer flights,'' said Singapore Airline chief executive Goh Choon Phong.
''We are very excited about what our new low-fare subsidiary will offer to consumers. We see a new market segment being created and this will provide another growth opportunity …,'' he said. Singapore Airlines is yet to file for its Air Operator's Certificate but promises the airline will be up and flying within 12 months.
Singapore Airlines' announcement came after a report in the Australian Financial Review that Australian airline Qantas was planning to establish a new premium carrier based in Singapore.
Qantas would not confirm the report, dismissing it as speculation, but has said its international business had not been performing to expectations, with market share in this area falling in recent years.

■単語
offshoot
[名]
1 派生物；分家；分派；子孫.
2 植物枝，分枝.