Windows Mobile 6.5 to debut in Barcelona

By Nick Mansell on Wed 21 January 2009

Windows Mobile 6.5?We heard back in November, from Steve Ballmer himself, that Windows Mobile 6.5 was on the way (dashing hopes that Microsoft might might an early leap to WM 7.0). Now the fount of all IT knowledge, Taiwan's Digitimes, says an unveiling is expected next month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Confirming what's previoulsy been heard from the likes of Motorola, the Far-East news-sheet reports that, the Windows Mobile refresh will be with phone makers by the middle of the year and start cropping up in handsets around July, August, September time - with the bulk of new phones hitting the shops by Christmas.

It's still vague what exactly we can expect from WM 6.5. Ballmer's promised user interface improvements (it can hardly get worse) and there's much talk about us seeing the first Zune elements enter Windows Mobile. Other than that, all we have to go off are these (slightly dubious) "leaked screenahots" showing a new touch-tastic front-end.

Whatever Microsoft's planning, it'll need to impress, what with all the game-raising by Apple, RIM and Palm we've seen of late. We fear a bit of Zune magic and a few fancy skins won’t satisfy the hunger of those hoping for a serious update to the aging Windows Mobile OS.

[Digitimes]

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