Apple and Microsoft unwrap products that resemble phone apps

BARCELONA: These days much of the action in the world of gadgets is happening in smartphones - like their sophisticated design and the apps that run on them. That has left desktop and laptop computers looking a little dull in comparison.

So computers are suddenly getting more phonelike.

Microsoft and Apple are leading the charge in this area. On Wednesday, Microsoft took the wraps off its latest operating system for computers and tablets, Windows 8, which mimics the look and feel of the company's new software for phones. And Apple recently offered a preview of its next operating system for Macs, incorporating familiar elements from the iPhone and iPad.

"All of the major innovation for PCs is coming from the mobile phone," said Tim Coulling, an analyst at the research firm Canalys.

The companies hope this strategy will give them added leverage in the market for tablets and smartphones, which is growing to rival the market for personal computers. And it could also help them sell more computers or, in Microsoft's case, software for computers.

People who buy an iPad or iPhone, for example, might be more inclined to also buy a Mac computer if they work together seamlessly and have features that operate the same way on both devices. For Apple, which still has only a small share of the computer business, that could be a big advantage.

In Microsoft's case, it needs to defend its traditional dominance of the PC operating system business with software that is versatile enough to also run on tablet computers.

This idea of a "continuum of computing" across various devices has long been "a promise of the future," said Carolina Milanesi, a research analyst who covers the mobile industry for Gartner. "But now it is critical for success among consumers."

Apple and Microsoft share an enemy in Google, which has the most popular cellphone operating system in Android, but does not have a strong presence in software for computers. Part of Google's strategy is to make up for that by offering sites and services on the Web that tie in with Android devices. This week the company unveiled a version of its Web browser, Chrome, that lets users synchronize their Web searches between their mobile devices and computers.

In the case of Apple's next version of its computer operating system, called Mountain Lion, Apple has added several features that were previously mobile-only. It has revamped the Mac's iChat software to be called Messages and made it work with the iMessage texting software in iPads and iPhones. Mountain Lion, which is due out this summer, will also include Notification Center, a mobile feature that consolidates the cacophony of incoming email messages, chat messages and online friend requests into a single window pane.