Microsoft Corp. is developing two new versions of its Windows CE operating system that will give smart devices greater storage capabilities and, as such, a more vital role in the enterprise as a portable data repository.

The Redmond, Wash., developer is targeting a new set of smart devices, including VOIP (voice-over-IP) phones, with the next version of CE, code-named McKendric and due next year. The company plans to follow that release in 2005 with a version of CE code-named Macallan that includes greater storage capabilities and better file system technology.

Users have long wanted the moves toward greater storage, saying they will enhance accessibility. Tommer Catlin, IS director at Webcor Technologies Inc., a construction contracting company in San Mateo, Calif., said that while laptops are getting smaller, it is always easier to carry a PDA (personal digital assistant). "If you could put all your files into a device and keep track of them, it would be far easier," Catlin said.

Todd Warren, general manager of Microsoft's Embedded and Appliance Platforms group, told eWeek in an interview here last week at the Microsoft Windows Embedded Conference that McKendric will target devices such as VOIP phones, as well as their components. "We've also been doing some work around other targeted devices, like residential gateways," Warren said.

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