After years of working to establish the smart phone as a viable platform, MicrosoftCorp. and Symbian Ltd. seem to be garnering enough support to conduct an old-fashioned operating system war in a new frontier.

While some industry experts say competition in the space encourages innovation and carrier adoption, others say multiple standards in the space complicate the environment for third-party software developers. In addition, some fear competition could spur the kind of tactics found unti-competitive in the desktop operating system environment.

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