Windows Mobile Learns from iPhone with Version 6.1

Published: April 3, 2008

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft this week announced Windows Mobile 6.1, a new release of the smartphone operating system that is expected to become available on new phones later this quarter. The new OS will be easier to set up, include a new Web browser, and feature better support for small screens and e-mail management. The software giant also unveiled System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008, which will allow IT administrators to more easily manage large numbers of corporate Windows Mobile smartphone users.

Ever since cellular phone usage hit an inflection point over a decade ago, the industry has been hurtling full speed toward a bright and promising future where the full spectrum of computing tasks associated with the desktop can also be done from a palm-size device. While we're not there yet--it's limited in large part by the lack of a widespread high-speed third-generation (3G) cellular network in the United States-- industry leaders like Apple, Research In Motion, Nokia, Motorola, and Microsoft have made tremendous advances over the past couple of years, making the mobile experience much more palatable and less cumbersome than those early efforts.

Although Apple's iPhone rules among consumers and RIM's Blackberry jumped out to an early lead among business users, Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform also has a solid backing and a strong reputation as a mature platform with a wide selection of applications. And as such, it should not be left off an IT manager's short-list for delivering mobile access to corporate apps and data via smart phones.

Microsoft gave corporate users even more reasons to consider Windows Mobile with version 6.1, which was announced this week from the CTIA Wireless 2008 conference in Las Vegas. The new smartphone operating system is designed to increase ease-of-use with several iPhone-esque features, such as pop-up alerts that notify users of missed calls, upcoming appointments, and new messages. Playing music and sharing photos is also easier to accomplish from the Windows Mobile home screen.

The new OS also includes a new "Getting Started Center" that's designed to help users accomplish basic setups tasks, such as configuring e-mail, connecting a Bluetooth headset or connecting to a Wi-Fi (802.11) network, Microsoft says. It also supports Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1), including support for administration and security policies.

Web-based apps should be easier to access from a Windows Mobile smartphone thanks to a new version of Internet Explorer Mobile, which won't be available until the third quarter. Microsoft says the new browser will make it easier to view full-screen Web pages--one of the features that Apple has benefited from tremendously with its iPhone. The new mobile browser will also feature support for multimedia technologies such as H.264 (also known as MPEG-4), Adobe Flash, and Silverlight, Microsoft's competitor to Flash.

Corporate IT departments may be most interested in System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008, a new Windows program that allows systems administrators to manage smartphones in the same way they manage desktops, and which also provides smartphones with access to data stored behind the corporate firewall.

Specifically, Mobile Device Manager backs up data stored on smartphones, recovers that data should the phone be lost, and also allows the data to be encrypted on the phone via smart cards. It also implements a virtual private network (VPN) between corporate file servers and Windows Mobile-based smart phones, enabling sensitive data to be transmitted over public wireless networks.

Microsoft plans to make a special version of Mobile Device Manager available to mobile phone carriers as part of the Microsoft Mobile Services Plan, or MMSP. The MMSP will allow carriers to manage the Windows Mobile wireless network for corporate customers and provide them with access to enterprise applications and Exchange Server 2007 SP1. AT&T, O2, Orange, TaTa Teleservices, and Verizon Wireless are considering delivering MMSP later this year, Microsoft says.

"Businesses now have the power, control, and flexibility over how they deliver information to their employees on the go," John O’Rourke, general manager of Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business, said in a press release.

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