Microsoft’s new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system is set to launch on 6 October, just two weeks before the launch of its Windows 7 operating system.
Windows Mobile, which is the third most popular mobile system behind Nokia’s Symbian OS and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry OS, is facing competition from the iPhone and Google Android.
The new version features a new user interface that puts a larger emphasis on touch screen controls, with new designs for icons and the ability to enter voice-mail, email and missed call directories from the “locked” screen.
It also features a new version of Internet Explorer Mobile, and will even be able to play “flash” videos – a feature the iPhone lacks. Windows Mobile 6.5 also comes just weeks before the Windows Mobile Marketplace is released.
“A Windows phone gives people a single phone that works for their whole life, keeping them connected to the people and information they care about by harnessing the power of the PC, phone and web,” said Todd Peter, Microsoft corporate vice president, in a statement.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
