Windows Mobile 6.5 for Office Web and Beyond

Brian Nelson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:00:20 +0000

Windows Mobile 6.5 Updated Features, Better Experience and Office Web App Integration

Microsoft’s updated Windows Mobile 6.5 release became widely available worldwide on October 6^th.

What was once a non-event because users and manufacturers alike were planning on waiting for Windows Mobile 7, has taken on new importance with news that Mobile 7 will be delayed longer than originally expected, and because the highly anticipated Microsoft Office 2010 Web Apps will be fully supported on Windows Mobile 6.5 devices.

Obviously, WinMo 6.5 offers a fresher looking interface.

Like other Microsoft products, the new Windows Mobile is moving away from a menu driven interface where everything is somewhere under “File” or “Menu” to a graphical icon driven interface.

In addition to a standard array of program icons on the startup screen, Windows Mobile 6.5 offers the tantalizing possibility to customizable widgets allowing, at long last, for customers to customize their phone’s main screen to look like they want it to, without resorting to flashing over the top of the phone’s default programming.

New Branding

The Windows Mobile team blog notes that most people don’t even realize they are using Windows Mobile.

Rather than take this as a compliment that Redmond has finally created a product that stays out of the way and lets users do what they do, Microsoft is worried about Apple’s mind share in the form of its much branded iPhone.

That means the most noticeable new feature of Windows Mobile 6.5 might just be that the cell phone market will suddenly go from zero Windows Phone products, to all subsequent Windows Mobile loaded devices suddenly being Windows Phone. This new branding scheme is likely to have the opposite effect of its intended one.

Cell phone buyers like to try on several different new phones and then choose the one that best suits them. In today’s marketplace, a person owns a HTC Pro, or a Nokia Mini, or whatever individual mobile suits them. Tomorrow, everyone who doesn’t have a Palm, iPhone, Android, or proprietary OS phone just owns a plain old Windows Phone.

Improved Web Browser

The biggest improvement in Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 promises to come from the upgraded Internet Explorer Mobile. The new IE Mobile will include long awaited support for Flash on websites via Adobe’s Flash Lite. Microsoft marketing materials tout this new feature as the ability to view “the real web.”

Unfortunately, users not purchasing a new phone will apparently be stuck viewing “the fake web” courtesy of the current non-Flash capable version of IE Mobile. Users of Windows Mobile 6.1 and older appear to be left out in the cold in their hopes for an upgrade to what is fast becoming a sub-standard browsing experience, as Microsoft has stated that there will be no upgrade path to 6.5 for users of 6.1 or lower. The new IE Mobile runs only on Mobile 6.5, so the math doesn’t look pleasant.

For cell phone users lucky enough to be in the market for a new phone right now, IE Mobile looks to be a much-improved experience. This release will not support multi-touch, and thus will not support multiple finger gestures, such as the iPhone’s famous shrink and grow gestures, however, all signs point to Microsoft finally taking the touch screen seriously.

What the new IE Mobile will give users is an experience browsing websites that doesn’t require constant resizing, scrolling, or just plain hoping that there is a “mobile version” of the site out there.

Microsoft Office Mobile

The best application Microsoft has in its arsenal to help keep Windows Mobile devices in the hearts and minds of many users is Outlook Mobile. For all the flash of the iPhone and all the PIM features in the new Palm OS, for many professional users, nothing matters as much as 24/7 access to email. And, not just any email account, but their primary work email account, just like they get at their desk. Outlook Mobile delivers that functionality.

Mobile versions of other Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will also be offered on Mobile 6.5 phones. However, the news is that Office 2010 Web Apps will be accessible through a mobile interface courtesy of WinMo 6.5’s improved browser and presumably, some locally installed software as well.

With Office Web the talk of the town in the upcoming Office 2010 Suite, full compatibility via Microsoft’s new mobile OS could be the advantage the company needs. Currently, the whiz-bang factor of other phones outshines the productivity features offered by Windows Mobile. The combination of full-scale email access, and the ability to work on virtually any Office document anywhere could have customers thinking about useful functionality over playful functionality.

Microsoft Marketplace for Mobile

Windows Mobile 6.5 also comes with Redmond’s answer to the iPhone Appstore. While Microsoft has offered plenty of applications for download on Windows Mobile phones, they haven’t always been easy to find, especially for less technology savvy users.

Microsoft hopes its version of the Appstore makes finding and downloading applications for WinMo devices so easy a caveman can do it, though due to trademark issues, it will need to be marketed differently.

My Phone

Finally, Microsoft answers an oft-asked question of mobile phone users everywhere, “Why do I have to plug my phone into a computer to get the data on it backed up when it already has an Internet connection?”

Microsoft’s unwinding of the patronizing “My Documents” file naming scheme in Vista and Windows 7 has apparently been largely forgotten as the company went back to one of the bone-dry creativity wells to name its synchronization and backup service.

My Phone offers a way for Windows Mobile users to backup contacts, appointments, documents, photos, videos, and even text messages all without having to plug a USB cable into the bottom of your phone.

My Phone will be offered via the Windows Live Services website and linked to a Live username and password allowing for way to recover the increasingly important data stored on user’s mobile phones.

All told, Windows Mobile 6.5 will offer enough features for users stuck with Mobile 6.1 to complain loudly, and for customers in the market for a new phone to have a reason to consider a “Windows Phone” and should give the company a little breathing room in the marketplace.

Considering many analysts are expecting Windows Mobile 7 no earlier than 4^th Quarter 2010, Windows Mobile 6.5 might turn out to be a very critical product for Microsoft if they are to stay competitive in the cell phone arena.