That Windows Mobile is "on life support" must come as news to the 7.23 million users of Microsoft's smartphone operating system. While the smartphone OS is in jeopardy, I don't see a situation nearly so dire.
The release of Windows Mobile 6.5 is not the complete overhaul that users have been demanding. For that the smartphone-using public will have to wait for Windows Mobile 7, scheduled to release in the last quarter of 2010.
You can stop holding your breath now: Windows Mobile 6.5 is here. Oh, come on -- I know you've been just dying to get your hands on Microsoft's new mobile OS, haven't you? Anyone? Hello?
Microsoft has announced that the next incarnation of Windows Mobile, version 6.5, will hit the streets on October 6. Obviously, Microsoft would like it to be a huge success and reclaim some of the lost smart phone market share, but the real prize lies in Microsoft embracing other mobile operating system platforms.
Microsoft will reportedly push two mobile operating systems at once in an effort to battle Google's Android and Apple's iPhone, but are two heads better than one?
Microsoft will release the next incremental upgrade of the Windows Mobile platform this Fall, but for many analysts and experts it seems like the new Windows Mobile OS is virtually dead on arrival. Microsoft has done little to raise the bar for mobile devices, and often seems to fall short even in just trying to catch up to competing products.
Does the world need another smartphone operating system? Apple's iPhone OS is still booming; Google's Android is increasingly promising; and three longtime contenders--Microsoft's Windows Mobile, RIM's BlackBerry OS, and Symbian's S60--are undergoing serious renovation to keep up with the times.
Adam Blum, CEO of startup Rhomobile, says 90% of the programs being written with his company's open source mobile application framework are by ISVs and the other 10% by enterprises, but over time he'd like to see those percentages reversed.
"For the record, Windows Mobile 6.5 is DONE . . . complete . . . looks really good."
While some of the announcements Microsoft plans to make at the Mobile World Congress have already leaked out, the new user interface on Windows Mobile 6.5 may pleasantly surprise mobile users when it is unveiled at the show.
The unveiling this week of Windows Mobile 6.5, married with Internet Explorer Mobile 6, is a major attempt by Microsoft to remain a viable player in the fast-changing mobile market.
