Windows Mobile 6.5 to 'kick-off' next month

Windows Mobile 6.5 - are you ready?
Windows Mobile 6.5 - are you ready?

Those of you waiting patiently for the next iteration of Windows Mobile (whether it's through admiration for the OS or a teeth-grinding, fury-filled abyss of waiting you've had to suffer with Windows Mobile 6.1) will be pleased to hear the refresh is coming next month.

Although not a definite date on when we'll be seeing Windows Mobile / Windows Phone 6.5 (we're still not sure which one it's supposed to be), Stephanie Ferguson, GM of Business Experiences at Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business is going to deliver the 'kick off' presentation of Windows Mobile 6.5 on 11 May.

Stiff developers

What she'll say or how she'll say it, we know not, but it will be coming at Tech Ed 2009, meaning she'll have to answer some pretty stiff developer questions on the OS that's supposed to be keeping us going until Windows Mobile 7 hits.

There will be a 'cool demo' (level of coolness still TBC) and an outline of some 'great stuff to come', so there could be another few morsels of WinMo fun to come.

A number of phones from the likes of HTC and Toshiba are currently sporting Windows Mobile 6.1 but will get the upgrade to 6.5 when the platform is released, likely later this year, so we could be getting some more information on when that will be and how it will be delivered to handsets.

Microsoft is also sponsoring a few webcasts on different aspects of the Windows Mobile ecosystem during April, so if you're into your development and don't have a tremendous apathy for the Redmond-based OS then get your mice at the ready.

From The Windows Mobile Blog via Engadget

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.