-By Mike Shields

Microsoft believes it has developed a new line of mobile phones which will satisfy both the business-focused Blackberry audience and the entertainment/social media-oriented iPhone crowd.

The company announced on Tuesday a string of new mobile phones which are powered by its Windows mobile software. The promise of these phones, which will challenge Blackberrys, the iPhone, and several new Google-powered phones, is summed up by the company’s new mobile tagline: “One Phone for Work and Play.”

“We all want to connect quickly to the people and information that’s important to us from across our lives at work and at home,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “A Windows phone lets people take their entire world of digital information, communications, applications and entertainment with them wherever they go.”

Among the new Windows powered phones rolled out in North America are the HTC Pure from AT&T, the HTC Imagio from Verizon Wireless, the Samsung Intrepid from Sprint and the HTC Tilt 2 from AT&T.

Most of these Windows phones employ touch screens and feature easy Web browsing—much like the iPhone. They can also easily connect to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, said officials. However, the phones also designed to enable users to back up and share heavy data, and even utilize business-heavy programs like Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Besides the new phones, Microsoft has launched Windows Marketplace for Mobile, its answer to Apple’s extremely popular App Store. The new store is launching with 246 apps, including apps built by MySpace, Netflix and ZAGAT, along with numerous games. Apple’s store is said to have over 75,000 applications.