MS to launch new Windows 8 phone software

Microsoft Corp, trying to boost its share of the mobile-phone software market, said it would release a new version of the Windows Phone programme in handsets .

Windows Phone 8 will have the same core software as Windows 8, which will allow for a wide variety of phone models and prices, the Redmond, Washington-based company said at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday. It will enable the software to run on phones with dual-core chips and high-definition screens.

Microsoft finished the first quarter with a 2.2 per cent share of the mobile phone Operating System market, dwarfed by Apple Inc's iOS and Google Inc's Android software, according to researcher International Data Corp. Microsoft's closest ally in the market, Nokia Oyj, faces mounting losses and debt downgrades as it tries to remake its business around Windows Phone.