Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Microsoft Unveils Windows Mobile 6
Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 05:30 PM
Breaking all-new ground in the realm of worst-kept secret ever, Windows Mobile 6 (a.k.a. "Crossbow") has been officially announced by Microsoft. It's a bit earlier than 3GSM, which is where they were going to announce it originally. As such, there's nothing official to link to yet, nor do I have a swanky article all about Windows Mobile 6 because I'm waiting to get a device running the beta back from Microsoft (it's a long story).
Some of the highlights include:
Full support for HTML email (within the limitations of IE Mobile's rendering engine of course)
Office Mobile now included, with support for reading and editing Office documents on the Smartphone
New streamlined functioning of email client: one click delete, reply, etc. Set email flags for follow-up.
Set "Out of Office" function directly on the device (with an Exchange server of course)
Windows Vista synchronization with Windows Mobile Device Center
Calendar ribbon in the calendar application gives you the ability to see your free/busy time easier
Windows Live client
Call History is now a part of the contact itself, so you can see when you last phoned that person, etc.
Internet sharing: there's a new built-in application to make using your device as a modem much easier
As per usual, this latest version of Windows Mobile is about more than just bullet points: there's a lot of background ("plumbing" work) to enable new and better devices. I've had some limited experience with Windows Mobile 6, and it's a solid step forward for the platform. There's nothing particularly amazing about it, but just like Windows Mobile 5 the total number improvements make for a better overall device. I know they've spent a lot of time improving the performance and stability of the operating system in general (which was already quite good in my opinion), but the real test will be the devices.
Everyone is wondering about upgrades I'm sure, but just like last time, it's too early to say what each of the OEMs are going to be doing - but stay tuned here for the official information as we get it!
Some of the highlights include:
Full support for HTML email (within the limitations of IE Mobile's rendering engine of course)
Office Mobile now included, with support for reading and editing Office documents on the Smartphone
New streamlined functioning of email client: one click delete, reply, etc. Set email flags for follow-up.
Set "Out of Office" function directly on the device (with an Exchange server of course)
Windows Vista synchronization with Windows Mobile Device Center
Calendar ribbon in the calendar application gives you the ability to see your free/busy time easier
Windows Live client
Call History is now a part of the contact itself, so you can see when you last phoned that person, etc.
Internet sharing: there's a new built-in application to make using your device as a modem much easier
As per usual, this latest version of Windows Mobile is about more than just bullet points: there's a lot of background ("plumbing" work) to enable new and better devices. I've had some limited experience with Windows Mobile 6, and it's a solid step forward for the platform. There's nothing particularly amazing about it, but just like Windows Mobile 5 the total number improvements make for a better overall device. I know they've spent a lot of time improving the performance and stability of the operating system in general (which was already quite good in my opinion), but the real test will be the devices.
Everyone is wondering about upgrades I'm sure, but just like last time, it's too early to say what each of the OEMs are going to be doing - but stay tuned here for the official information as we get it!
