Windows Mobile Bandwagon Gets Bigger

Sony Ericsson will join most of the world’s other top cell phone makers in offering a smartphone based on the Windows Mobile operating system, leaving only industry leader Nokia without a Windows Mobile version. The first of the company’s new phones, called the “Xperia X1,” will be on sale by the end of the year, reports Reuters.

The Xperia X1 will be a slider phone with a touch screen and a typewriter-style keyboard. A Microsoft exec said the company would reach its goal of selling at least 20 million smartphones through partners by the end of June. Though Nokia licenses some software from Microsoft, it doesn’t use the Windows Mobile system. “We'd love them to do it," said the Microsoft exec. (More cell phone industry stories.)