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Microsoft goes after the 99 percenters with Windows Phone

Time: 08:33 EST/13:33 GMT | News Source: CNET | Posted By: Robert Stein

Microsoft wants to be known as the people's smartphone company. The software giant said today that it had lowered the minimum requirements to build a Windows Phone, a move that allows vendors to construct less expensive devices that can appeal to more budget-conscious customers and first-time smartphone buyers. The shift represents an attempt to expand Microsoft's addressable market, vital to the company's bid to regain a measure of relevancy in the smartphone business. The company had previously maintained a strict list of specifications that vendors had to follow, which at the time made the devices fairly high end. The move comes asAndroid's momentum in a variety of markets, high and low, continues to gain ground.