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March 25, 2008 1:50 PM PDT

Report: Next Windows Mobile version arriving next week

by Tom Krazit

Microsoft is getting ready to take the wraps off the latest version of Windows Mobile, according to a report out Tuesday.

Pocket Lint is claiming that Microsoft will release Windows Mobile 6.1 next Tuesday, which happens to be the day that Microsoft's Robbie Bach, head of the Windows Mobile team, is planning to give a keynote address at the CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas. Purely a coincidence, I'm sure, although it will be April Fool's Day.

Microsoft could be getting ready to release an updated version of Windows Mobile 6, shown here.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Windows Mobile 6.1 will be the first major update to ship since version 6.0 made its debut last year. Screenshots that leaked out earlier this year hinted that 6.1 would use a sleeker interface, cutting down on some of the clutter in the 6.0 version.

The sixth version came with some incremental improvements to Windows Mobile 5.0, according to CNET's review of WinMo 6. But next year, Microsoft is expected to take a nod from Apple's OS X and release a touch-screen-oriented user interface as part of Windows Mobile 7.

I'll be at CTIA next week for Bach's keynote address along with several colleagues, as we check out the latest from Microsoft's smartphone group. At the moment, Windows Mobile phones are quite popular with the CNET News.com crowd, but there's not a single company in this industry that isn't re-examining its future road map after watching the debut of the iPhone.

Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom.
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Isn't it been released a while ago?
by The User March 25, 2008 2:21 PM PDT
xda-developers.com have been releasing numerous 6.1 ROMs for months now. Will the "official" ROM differ from those?
Reply to this comment
WinMo 6.1
by Abhi Shah March 26, 2008 12:03 AM PDT
Hi Tom, any specific feature updates in the 6.1 from the previous edition, 6.0.
Also checked out the Windows Photon (WinMo 7) pics, and the list looks impressive. However, the challenge for Microsoft would be to deliver this in time next year (I still think they'd be late in the market after what the rest of the vendors have announced so far)
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God, look at all that cra*
by Galaxy5 March 26, 2008 8:18 AM PDT
Jeez. That thing is horribly busy, interface wise. I can see why
people would flee toward the iPhone, which isn't nearly so verbose
while providing exactly the same information on one screen.
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