Microsoft new phones win favorable reaction

Microsoft's last-ditch attempt to reclaim its prominence in the smartphone market won favorable early reviews on Monday, but it may come too late to claw back customers from Apple and Google.
The world's largest software company, along with network carriers and handset makers, is planning to spend more than $100 mln on marketing the phones, which analysts said could compete with Apple's iPhone, but that may be a struggle.
"They have phones with slide-out keyboards, larger screens, high definition outlets — all features that the iPhone does not have," said Ross Rubin, a consumer electronics analyst at retail research firm NPD Group. "That should help Microsoft's competitive position. There will always be a segment of customers that seek out the newest devices."
The line-up of nine new phones from Samsung, LG, HTC and Dell will start to appear in stores later this month in Europe, and in November in the United States on AT&T's network.
The handsets are much closer in look and feel to Apple's iPhone than earlier Windows phones, with colorful touch-screens and "live tiles" on the starting screen for quick access to email, the Web, music and exclusively, games on the Xbox system.