Microsoft Tests Smartphone With Asia Suppliers

Microsoft Corp. is working with  component suppliers in Asia to test its  own smartphone design, people                                            familiar with the situation said. The move suggests the computer-software giant is increasingly  adopting a variation of a business model favored by rival Apple  Inc., which designs computers and phones along with the software  that powers them. Officials at some of Microsoft's parts suppliers, who declined to  be named, said the Redmond, Wash.-based company is testing a  smartphone design but isn't sure if a product will go into mass  production.