Microsoft Launches Windows Mobile 6

Published: February 14, 2007

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft this week launched Windows Mobile 6, the newest release of its operating system for smart phones and other handheld devices. With WM6, Microsoft is seeking to recreate on smaller devices the types of computing experiences users have enjoyed on larger desktop systems, such as reading full HTML e-mail, editing Excel worksheets, and tapping into Windows Live hosted services.

As the brains powering some of the world's most advanced cellular phones and multi-function handheld devices, Windows Mobile has to satisfy not only teenagers bent on having the latest music or ringtone, but business users demanding better, faster, and more secure access to business applications. That's a tough line to walk, but one that Microsoft has showed balance while navigating.

Microsoft has delivered some impressive new capabilities in WM6. The company claims that the text and images in e-mails now appear on WM6 devices the same way they appear on a full PC. Of course, the screen size is shrunk, but Microsoft says all the fidelity is there if you scroll around to find it.

Microsoft has also launched new mobile versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that work on WM6. (And you though you could leave PowerPoint presentations at your desk.) People running Outlook on their WM6-powered devices benefit from Microsoft's "Direct Push Technology," which ensures quick e-mail delivery and provides synchronization of Outlook calendars, tasks, and contacts through Microsoft Exchange Server.

Phones running WM6 can also benefit from Microsoft's Windows Live products specially developed for mobile devices. Chief among these apps is Windows Live for Windows Mobile, which brings access to several capabilities, including an instant messaging program called Windows Live Messenger, an e-mail program called Windows Live Mail, a way to search and pull up news, maps, and directories called Live Search, and a blogging and phone services called Windows Live Spaces. (Because some people just have to blog on the move.)

The Live Search capability (available for both Windows Mobile and Java-based handheld devices), is perhaps the coolest new mobile application. Live Search uses the GPS capabilities being built into all cell phones these days to customize the content users see on their screens. This means hungry users can search for a restaurant, and pull up only eating establishments in the local area. It also brings some nifty mapping capabilities, including turn-by-turn directions, and even rich, aerial photography as a result of Live Search's integration with Microsoft's Virtual Earth technology.

But real-time traffic is perhaps the most useful new Live Search capability. Utilizing sensors our government has embedded into major highways (at taxpayer expense), Live Search shows users how fast traffic is flowing by using red, yellow, and green gradients. Real-time traffic is available in 25 major U.S. cities, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Lastly, people prone to losing their handheld technological doo-dads will be happy to hear about the new remote wipe feature that deletes all information from the WM6 device if it's lost or stolen. Phones with WM6 will become available in the second quarter. Microsoft is working with major phone manufacturers and telecommunication providers on the rollout.

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