The ads for the Samsung BlackJack mobile phone from Cingular are as slick as can be. A card dealer shuffles several of the mobile phones and fans them out, just like a magician performing a card trick.

It’s a fitting metaphor, since BlackJack helped Microsoft (http://www.businessweek.com/ticker/) accomplish a feat that seems nothing less than a sleight of hand itself. In 2006, according to market research firm IDC, mobile phone carriers worldwide sold more phones running the software giant’s Windows Mobile, the operating system used inside the BlackJack and other phones to send wireless e-mail, than BlackBerry, the category-defining gadgets from Waterloo (Ont.)-based Research In Motion (http://www.businessweek.com/ticker/). It’s an astonishing turn of events for Microsoft, which stumbled for years in the mobile market. Smartphone Collaboration

And BusinessWeek has learned that LG Electronics, the fourth-largest mobile phone maker, is developing new Windows Mobile devices. With Samsung and Motorola (http://www.businessweek.com/ticker/) already selling Windows Mobile phones, Microsoft will have three of the top five handset makers in its camp.

LG says it’s working on at least two new smartphones, including devices that would use its touch-screen technology rather than buttons. The first handsets will hit the market in the second half of this year. It’s a new market for the Korean company. Woo-young Kwak, LG’s vice-president and head of mobile communications research and development, says the “collaboration with Microsoft will enhance LG’s stance in the growing smartphone market.”

Microsoft and LG are expected to announce the news at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 12. It will also unveil Windows Mobile 6, which will include improved collaboration software and better security. The first Windows Mobile devices will arrive in the spring. Watershed moment

For Microsoft, the mobile phone business has been marked more by defeats than victories. When it pushed into the business in 2002, handset makers and mobile phone carriers balked, worried that the software giant would try to marginalize partners, squeezing the lion’s share of profits for itself just as it has in the PC business. What’s more, its software was clunky, and a battery hog to boot, making devices running it unappealing.

The turning point came in September, 2005, when Microsoft convinced longtime rival Palm (http://www.businessweek.com/ticker/) to put Windows Mobile inside its popular Treo device. Microsoft Senior Vice-President Pieter Knook calls it a “watershed moment” for Windows Mobile’s legitimacy. Over time, the company became more willing to let handset makers and carriers define the customer experience, as long as users tapped into e-mail servers running Microsoft’s Exchange software. Squeezing the BlackBerry

Since then, a handful of slick designs have propelled Windows Mobile, everything from Motorola’s slim Q to the more rounded Dash, made by Taiwanese contract manufacturer HTC (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/13/06, ). “It gives them a real advantage on a choice standpoint,” says Kent Mathy, president of the business market group at Cingular, which also sells the BlackBerry. That diversity only grows with the LG deal.

The high-end handsets with big screens and the ability to handle spreadsheets led Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. to replace BlackBerrys with Windows Mobile devices for its roughly 1,500 employees who use smartphones. The process should take about two years, as employees’ service contracts expire. Part of the reason for the switch: The financial-services firm was able to develop and deploy software its bond traders use to buy and sell in real time for Windows Mobile phones.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (UPI) — Wells Fargo was the single biggest purchaser of green power in the latest quarter, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported Monday.

This was the first time a private company topped the list for buying electricity generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind and biomass, the EPA said. Whole Foods Market ranked second, while the U.S. Air Force came in third.

As for the EPA itself, it came in fourth, while Johnson & Johnson was fifth. The EPA said the top 25 green power purchasers collectively buy more than 4 billion kilowatt-hours of green power annually.

“These organizations are demonstrating that environmental stewardship and profitable business operations can go hand in hand,” said Bill Wehrum, acting assistant administrator for the agency’s office of air and radiation.

April 19, 2007 — Manhattan

UPPER EAST SIDE

$710,000

118 E. 60th St.

One-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 940 square feet, with dining area, renovated kitchen and renovated bath; Plaza Tower building features 24-hour doorman, concierge, laundry and storage. Maintenance $1,416, 66 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $725,000, on market 32 weeks.

Brokers: Bill Livingston, Bellmarc and Michael Gordon, The Corcoran Group

CHELSEA

$517,500

335 W. 21st St.

Prewar one-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 500 square feet, with renovated kitchen, decorative fireplace and southern exposure. Maintenance $459. Asking price $529,000, on market 29 weeks.

Brokers: Christine Campbell, JC DeNiro & Associates and Ken Barbina, Domain Properties

GRAMERCY

$420,000

200 E. 27th St.

Renovated alcove studio, 450 square feet, with new granite kitchen with stainless-steel appliances and dishwasher, renovated bath with glass doors, separate dressing room, California closet, new moldings and open city views; Victoria House building is pet-friendly and features 24-hour doorman, roof deck, gym, parking, laundry and live-in super. Maintenance $567, 45 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $429,000, on market seven weeks.

Broker: Edward Herson, Halstead Property

MIDTOWN EAST

$565,000

333 E. 45th St.

One-bedroom, one-bath condo, 600 square feet, with high ceilings and renovated kitchen and bath; Lausanne building features 24-hour doorman, roof deck, health club with pool, laundry, storage and live-in super. Common charges $357, taxes $350. Asking price $599,000, on market eight weeks.

Brokers: Prudential Douglas Elliman and Lee Presser, Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy

MIDTOWN WEST

$1,110,000

40 W. 55th St.

Two-bedroom, two-bath condo, 1,070 square feet, with dining room, wood-burning fireplaces, new hardwood floors and renovated windowed kitchen with Sub-Zero, Miele and GE appliances and quartz counters. Common charges $791, taxes $870. Asking price $1,110,000, on market eight weeks.

Broker: Louise Phillips Forbes, Halstead Property

TRIBECA

$1,350,000

416 Washington St.

Prewar one-bedroom, two-bath condo, 1,278 square feet, with gourmet chef’s kitchen, office, high ceilings, Brazilian walnut floors and limestone baths. Common charges $1,009, taxes $88. Asking price $1,475,000, on market 25 weeks.

Brokers: Christine Campbell, JC DeNiro & Associates and Barbara Lawrence, Prudential Douglas Elliman

UPPER WEST SIDE

$1,312,550

155 W. 70th St.

Two-bedroom, two-bath condo, 950 square feet, with dining area and S/W exposures; Coronado building is pet-friendly and features full-time doorman and concierge, garage, children’s playroom, health club with sauna and billiards room. Common charges $1,180, taxes $925. Asking price $1,250,000, on market 50 days.

Broker: Peter Griffiths, The Corcoran Group

Brooklyn

GERRITSEN BEACH

$335,000

3187 Avenue W

Two-bedroom, one-bath semidetached duplex on an 18-foot-by-120-foot lot, with dining room, eat-in kitchen and full basement. Asking price $349,000, on market six weeks.

Broker: Tracey Real Estate

MIDWOOD

$360,000

1155 Ocean Ave. >PAGE 1>