Windows Mobile 6.5 officially announced
Steve Balmer, CEO of Microsoft, officially announced Windows Mobile 6.5 at the Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona. LG and HTC will be the first manufacturers to release Windows Mobile 6.5 phones. Microsoft also announced two new services: My Phone and Windows Marketplace.



Important improvements in Windows Mobile 6.5
Windows Mobile 6.5 is fully optimized for touch screen phones so you don’t need a stylus pen anymore. Customizable widgets can now be placed on the new Start Screen. This allows you to be always kept up to date about your mail, text messages and your favourite web services.

My Phone and Windows Marketplace
Along with the new version of Windows Mobile, Microsoft also introduced two new services: My Phone and Windows Marketplace.

My Phone, integral part of Windows Mobile 6.5, allows you to easily backup your videos, photos and text messages online. My Phone backs up these data online so it’s safe when your computer calls it a day.

Windows Marketplace for Mobile can best be compared with Apple’s iTunes store. Log in with your Windows Live ID and you can search, find and download applications and games.

The first Windows Mobile 6.5 phones
The first phones running on Windows Mobile 6.5 are the HTC Touch Diamond2, the HTC Touch Pro2 and the LG GM730. Don’t run to the stores yet as these phones will be released in the second half of 2009.