Day one at the Mobile World Congress is now over and it was certainly a big day for Microsoft and the Windows Mobile platform. Here’s my attempt at recapping the day’s major announcements for the platform which includes pics of the upcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, info on the new Windows Marketplace for Mobile, the free online web service called My Phone, and a new alliance with LG Electronics.

First off – the big news of the day has to be the upcoming new version of Windows Mobile known as Windows Mobile 6.5. Central to the new version are user interface improvements aimed at improving the touch-screen experience of Windows smartphones. Let’s face it – Windows Mobile’s user interface isn’t exactly the most intuitive and it’s optimized for stylus pens which is soo.. 2000 of the platform. Alas.. the world has changed over the last two years as the iPhone innovative user interface has completely changed user expectations for smartphones.

Other notable improvements include a new today screen and an updated version of Internet Explorer Mobile Browser. Here are snapshots of Windows Mobile 6.5 provided by Microsoft:

Below is the new Lock screen for Windows Mobile 6.5. You can still respond to interactive user interface elements with a simple PIN even if the device is locked. Notice the icons for voicemail, missed call, and text-messages.

Next, we have the new Start screen which now utilizes a honeycomb interface layout designed for finger usage.

Finally, here’s the new Internet Explorer Mobile browser with support for Adobe Flash Lite.

Next up, we have the new (and free) Microsoft My Phone service allowing Windows Mobile users the ability to access, manage, and back up the personal information on their mobile devices to the cloud. The service offers automatic synching and backup of data stored on Windows Mobile devices and consumers will also be able to upload photos and videos taken with their devices directly to My Phone.

Here are screenshots provided by Microsoft of the My Phone Service.

Here are contacts stored on the web service:

Here’s a screenshot of photos uploaded to the service:

Here’s a screenshot of the My Phone app on a Windows Mobile device:

Finally here are screenshots of the website:

The service is currently available in a limited invitation-only beta.

New to Windows Mobile 6.5 is also the Windows Marketplace for Mobile (couldn’t they just called it Windows Mobile Marketplace or something like that???). With the Marketplace, users will be able to search, browse, and purchase mobile apps from their Windows Mobile devices or PCs using a Windows Live ID. According to Microsoft, developers will be able to offer apps to customers through the marketplace using a simple security and compatibility check from Microsoft. The new Marketplace will be included with all Windows Mobile phones running Windows Mobile 6.5.

Microsoft announced one other interesting service for Windows Mobile devices – Microsoft Recite. Recite is Microsoft’s own voice search technology for Windows phones version 6.0 or higher allowing users to use their voice to capture, search, and retrieve spoken notes and reminders. You can try out the technology preview at http://recite.microsoft.com/download/

Moving on to the partner front, Microsoft and LG Electronics announced a major expansion of their alliance which will create a “tenfold increase in the volume of Windows phones available from LG in 2009 and bring up to 26 new Windows phones to market in 2012 alone.” All told, this new alliance can result in a total of 50 new LG Windows phones. The agreement also calls for both companies to create joint teams for research and development – focusing on developing products that have tighter integration between hardware and software.

In addition to this announcement, LG introduced the new LG-GM730 Windows phone which features:

• LG’s advanced 3D S-Class cube user interface with four customizable home screens
• Flick of a finger turns the cube from one side to the next
• Simplified email setup requiring one click
• Incorporates LG signature style with “slim, seamless profile”
• Measures 11.9 mm thick

The handset will be coming out in the first half of this year with Windows Mobile 6.1 and will be upgraded to 6.5 during the second half of this year.

We have of course mentioned the two new HTC handsets – the Touch Diamond2 and the Touch Pro2..

Yes.. a busy day for Microsoft but will all this be enough to keep the Windows Mobile OS competitive against the increased competition from Symbian, Android, and of course the Apple iPhone? Time will only tell.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Windows Mobile Smartphones, Windows Mobile 6.5, LG Electronics, Windows Mobile, My Phone Service, Windows Marketplace for Mobile

Microsoft announced their Wave 3 release of the Windows Live suite of PC applications today complete with public betas of the respective applications. Windows Live Wave 3 includes applications such as a completely redesigned Live Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Writer, Toolbar, and Family Safety. You can download the new betas by going to http://download.live.com/. Remember that these are beta versions of the applications so think twice before installing them on your PC

Here are some of the key things about each of the new Live applications.

Mail beta is able to manage all of your email accounts from a single application. The app supports online services such as Hotmail, Live Mail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and various others. You can also share a single contacts list with Windows Live. Windows Live Mail also syncs with the web calendar in Windows Live (which is also sharable to others you might know).  Though I haven’t tried it out yet, this could be a viable alternative to using Outlook on some systems.

As mentioned earlier, Messenger Beta received a complete redesign in this release. You can still chat, make phone calls, video calls, play games etc with Live Messenger Beta. You’ll also be able to customize your profile and the look and feel of the conversation windows. There’s also a new “Updates from contacts” feature which notifies you of what your friends are up to on the net. Think of it as Facebook notifications meets Messenger. When your friends go offline, you will also be able to send SMS messages to your friend via Messenger

I’m a huge fan of Windows Live Writer (simply known as Writer). Writer received some nice new features in the beta release including support for almost every blog service out there including Windows Live, Wordpress, Blogger, Live Journal, TypePad, Sharepoint, Community Server, etc. You’ll even be able to publish videos directly to MSN or YouTube via Live Writer.

Photo Gallery photo library manager and a photo editor. The app will let you share and receive photos from friends as well as tag pictures (tag friends, items etc) for easy retrieval later on.

With Wave 3, Movie Maker gets brought into Windows Live complete with a new design for the application. You’ll be able to easily create movies from photos, video clips, and music and then upload them to the web.

You can read more about the new Wave 3 release via the Windows Live Wire blog here.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Windows Live, Wave 3

The Microsoft Live Mesh team announced that new updates would be available later today for the Live Mesh system. Both the Live Mesh software and the Live Desktop would be updated to version 0.9.3103.9,  In addition, Live Mesh is going to be available to more people and the sign-up process has been greatly streamlined.

Fixes in the latest version include:

• Raised the limit on the total number of customers we’ll allow to access the Live Mesh Tech Preview.
• Expanded availability: you can sign up directly, with no waiting list, if your country/region is the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, or New Zealand.
• Removed the limit on the number of Live Mesh invitations you have. Invite new friends and family members to the Live Mesh Tech Preview.
• For our customers in countries/regions other than those above, we’ve greatly simplified the waiting list process. You no longer need to sign up through Microsoft Connect. You can sign in with your Windows Live ID on www.mesh.com, click Sign Up, and you’ll automatically be notified once Live Mesh is available in your country/region.
• Improved the performance of peer-to-peer synchronization.
• General performance improvements.

One final note for folks with Windows Vista. “If you’re running Windows Vista and recently turned off UAC, you may have to turn on UAC to install this update. Please see the Live Mesh forums for further information.”

I’ve been using Live Mesh since it went public a few weeks back and I’m absolutely loving some of the initial features – in particular the ability to easily sync files between devices and the ability for me to easily remote desktop into my connected devices.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Live Mesh

Microsoft has announced that the latest version of Windows Live Client for Windows Mobile devices is now available for download. All you need to do is point your mobile browser to http://wl.windowsmobile.com/. The new version of Windows Live Client supports the following features:

• Synchronize Live contacts with your contacts on the device
• Synchronize your Live email (msn, hotmail, live)
• View graphics, web links and contact photos in emails
• Respond to emails with voice recordings
• Upload photos to your Windows Live Spaces

Wish I had a Windows Mobile device to test this out with! Do let me know how it goes!

[Check it out via Mobility Today]

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Windows Live Client, Windows Mobile