Wednesday March 22 12:29 PM ET
Microsoft, TI in Pact to Enhance Wireless Devices
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) and Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN - news) said on Wednesday they are teaming up to develop enhanced software capabilities for wireless handheld devices such as personal digital assistants.
As part of the deal, Microsoft said it will be using Texas Instrument's (TI) programmable digital signal processors (DSP) to enhance the performance of its Windows CE operating system for handheld devices. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Microsoft, the No. 1 U.S. software maker, and TI, the world's largest developer of semiconductor chips for the mobile communications market, said the alliance will benefit software developers by affording them more flexibility in their design of software solutions for the numerous mobile Internet devices that are hitting the market.
Shares of Microsoft were up 1 1/4 at 104 on the Nasdaq stock market, while shares of TI were off 1 3/4 at 169 1/2 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Windows CE, Microsoft's operating software for wireless handheld devices, combined with TI's programmable DSPs will help developers build programs with enhanced multimedia functions, such as wireless Web access, streaming audio and video, and videoconferencing, over mobile devices such as handheld computers.
Currently, Dallas-based TI's DSPs power a wide variety of systems, including more than 60 percent of digital wireless handsets, according to research firm Dataquest.
Microsoft, which dominates the personal computer market, said last month that it intends to be a player in the wireless and handheld devices market.
The Redmond, Wash.-based company also recently released software that it said allows handheld devices to play music, video and graphics. Separately, Microsoft in February inked a deal with mobile communications firm Qualcomm Inc. (NasdaqNM:QCOM - news) to draw up designs for wireless devices.
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