Microsoft has been a major player in the PDAPhone space since the inception of the market when the major platforms were Windows CE and Palm OS (and of course, Symbian). Amazingly, since roughly the 2001 timeframe, there has been very little of what I'd call real innovative improvements to Microsofts platform. There have been been some enhancements in the support services around it, like for example push email, but not much happening in the user experience department. I can't help but think that if Microsoft were on their game, then they would own this market and we may have never heard of the Apple iPhone. But after skating for years, Apple did produce a market dominating winner in the iPhone and now iPhone 3G, and finally the sleeping giant in Redmond woke up and realized they needed to do something or risk being pushed out of this market entirely. Ironically, the big push from Microsoft to fight back has the striking name of "release 6.5". You'd think that this would have at least garnered a new version???

So in Spain at the Mobile World Congress 2009, Microsoft has unveiled Windows Mobile release 6.5 and there is a lot of cool stuff for the Windows Mobile user, but at the same time you have to think that this all seems familiar... and completely inspired by the Apple iPhone. So, what do we get?

• User Experience - The new Windows Mobile 6.5 home screen keeps people up-to-date on important information by providing a dashboard-like experience to items such as new e-mails, texts, missed calls and calendar appointments. It also includes an improved touch-screen interface, making it easy to take action with a finger, and an updated version of the latest Internet Explorer Mobile browser, which in a third-party research study sponsored by Microsoft supported execution of up to 48 percent more assigned tasks than the other browsers and phones studied. (I wonder if the study included the iPhone's Safari browser?)
• My Phone Service - The free My Phone service will enable people to access, manage and back up their personal information on their device to a password-protected Web-based service, making it easier to upgrade phones without the worry of losing important information. With automatic syncing and backup, users can count on their contacts, appointments, text messages and other information being kept up to date and easily restored should they lose or upgrade their phone. Consumers also will be able to automatically upload photos and video from their Windows Mobile device directly to the My Phone service, making it simple to preserve content that, in the past, would have lived and died on the phone. The My Phone service is currently available in a limited invitation-only beta. (Hmm... sounds a lot like Mobile Me)
• Integrated Marketplace - The new operating system features Windows Marketplace for Mobile, a rich and integrated marketplace for searching, browsing and purchasing mobile applications from Windows Mobile devices or from a PC by simply using a Windows Live ID. The new marketplace will be included with all Windows phones based on Windows Mobile 6.5, which will help consumers to easily find, install and experience those applications that fit their needs and make the phone truly personal. Developers, who have already built over 20,000 applications for Windows Mobile devices, will be able to offer applications to customers through the marketplace via a simple security and compatibility check from Microsoft. (Hmm... sounds a lot like the Apple Application Store and iTunes)
• New PDAPhones - Not surprisingly, a couple of manufacturers are already rolling out devices and leveraging Windows Mobile 6.5. In particular, the LG GM7300 and the HTC Touch Diamond 2 and Touch Pro 2. Both of these manufacturers have developed and will include their own interface components that try to model the iPhone. But here's the thing... Why isn't Microsoft making these interface enhancements to the OS rather than relying on hardware makers to do them. By taking this path, different devices will have a slightly different experience and worse, the underlying OS is still a stylus based OS. Apple still has a significant advantage in that all the applications built on OS X will be able to exploit the interface. With Windows Mobile, there is a bit of a "lipstick on a pig" effect going on here. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot to like about Windows Mobile, but they seem to be dancing around this effort to copy the iPhone. If you look at the new LG device, it is quite obvious that they had an iPhone 3G laying on the table when they designed it... the hardware and the interface enhancements.

We'll have to wait and see if this release will help Microsoft slow down the big marketshare shift that is moving in Apples favor over the last year and a half. For more information, refer to the Microsoft announcement.