Foley.
Last month,
in an interview with The New York Times, Windows Mobile marketing chief Andy Lees (right) confirmed that Microsoft will release a new version of Windows Mobile at this month's Mobile World Congress (MWC). The upgrade will include free synchronization of data between a phone, Microsoft's cloud-based servers, and a user's PC, Lees is said to have added.
Oddly, Microsoft hasn't released any product names publicly. However, it's an open secret that the new OS will be known as
Windows Mobile 6.5. It will include both a "honeycomb" user interface (right) and
Internet Explorer Mobile 6, providing Adobe Flash compatibility and the ability to view web pages full-screen. Meantime, according to many reports, the cloud synchronization service will be branded as
SkyBox.
Now, citing "well-connected sources who've asked to remain anonymous," Foley has provided further details of SkyBox on her "All About Microsoft" blog. Version 1.0 of SkyBox will go into beta later this month, letting Windows Mobile 6.5 users backup, restore, or share data via an ad-supported web portal, she writes.
Foley writes that SkyBox 1.5 will be released in summer 2009, in both free and subscription-based flavors, "if Microsoft sticks to its current plan." The 1.5 service will be available on Windows Mobile 6.5, 6.1, "and a select few non-Windows-Mobile phones." she adds.
Finally, version 2.0, which "seems to be running on the same schedule as Windows Mobile 7.0 [
link]," will reportedly allow users to manage their mobile devices from the web. For example, users will be able to change ringtones and backgrounds, manage their music and video connections, and install applications, all from any web browser. Version 2.0 will also incorporate
SkyMarket, Microsoft's online applications store, according to Foley.
SkyBox 2.0 will also integrate Microsoft's previously offered cloud syncing service,
Live Mesh, Foley suggests. "Why you'd still need other existing Microsoft services like Live Mesh, SkyDrive, and Live Sync -- the service formerly called Windows Live FolderShare -- in addition to SkyBox is not clear to me," she adds.
According to Foley, SkyBox is based on technology acquired by Microsoft when it
purchased Portuguese developer MobiComp in 2008. At that time, MobiComp had already published utilities for backing up smartphone data over the air, posting content to social networks, and pushing data to devices in a "ticker" format.
MobiComp's MobileKeeper Backup and RestoreFor example, MobiComp's
MobileKeeper Backup and Restore (pictured above) was a client/server program touted as being able to backup device content via 2.5G and 3G cellular networks. The software operated at preset intervals automatically, and also allowed users to browse data backups manually via "virtual drive" functionality, according to MobiComp. MobileKeeper Backup and Restore clients were said to be available for Windows Mobile, Symbian S60/S80/UIQ, J2ME, Brew, and SyncML devices.
Further informationTo read Mary-Jo Foley's posting about SkyBox on her "All About Microsoft" blog, see the
ZDNet website,
here.
For more information on the Mobile World Congress, scheduled to run from Feb. 16 to Feb. 9 in Barcelona, Spain, see the MWC website,
here.
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