Microsoft has demonstrated the next version of Windows Mobile and scheduled its release for the first quarter of next year. The product -- likely to be called Windows Mobile 6.1 or Windows Mobile 6 Second Edition -- was shown behind closed doors yesterday at a Microsoft-sponsored event in Amsterdam.
Open to Windows Mobile MVPs and selected journalists who signed nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) -- not, alas, including the editors of Windowsfordevices.com -- the "Mobius 2007" conference featured demonstrations of the new release. "We showed the next version of Windows Mobile to a number of influential bloggers," Microsoft Enterprise Mobile Solution Specialist Jason Langridge confirmed on his blog.
Created for Vodafone, this user interface may be featured on a new Windows Mobile release
While details of the release are likely to be secret until January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), we have pieced together a few rumored features. They reportedly include:
Scheduled for availability in the second quarter of 2008, System Center Mobile Device Manager allows administrators to provision and manage smartphones, and lets users access enterprise applications residing behind the firewall, according to Microsoft. The software will require brand-new Windows Mobile phones, or updates to selected older devices, the company says.
Phones likely compatible with the next Windows Mobile release (Clockwise: AT&T Blackjack II, AT&T Tilt, HTC Advantage, HTC Mogul, HTC Touch, Motorola Q Music 9m, Palm Treo 750, Samsung SCH i760, T-Mobile Wing, Verizon SMT5800/XV6800. Click each for details)
Observers believe the new Windows Mobile release could be available to the public, following testing by manufacturers and ROM upgrading. Meanwhile, Microsoft has already released its Office Mobile 6.1, which makes the product compatible with the OpenXML file formats featured in Office 2007.
To read Jason Langridge's post on the new Windows Mobile release, including links to other blogs that have published rumors, visit his blog, here.
To see Langridge's posting about the custom Vodafone interface mentioned above, see another blog entry, here. Langridge has also created the following YouTube video, which shows off the interface.
Vodafone's customized Treo 500v Windows Mobile UI (Click image to play)
