Drum beat starting: Where in the world is Windows Mobile 6.1?

Inquiring minds want to know. And the questions are only going to get louder. Where in the world is Windows Mobile 6.1?

Here we are on day two of the WDC in Barcelona and not one peep, iota, sliver of news from Microsoft on the (needlessly) ultra-secret, NDA bound, rumored and leaked upgrade to Windows Mobile.

Yesterday, we got announcements about new partnerships and corporate acquisitions. All well fine and good. Early returns are the Experia X1 is looking really good. And while I'm still not understanding the whole purchase of Danger (for $500 million no less), it makes a little more sense than trying to buy Yahoo.

But what I am not understanding is why hasn't there been a single word about the next Windows Mobile when you have everybody who is anybody in the Mobile phone market in the same place?

Microsoft flew big shots out to a private unveiling back in November (yes, NOVEMBER!) of Windows Mobile 6.1 and then slapped everyone with a Non Disclosure Agreement. No biggie (or so we all thought), any day now Microsoft would pull back the veil (something called the iPhone, I think) and viola!

That didn't happen.

Surely, then, at CES at the beginning of January with it being Bill Gates last scheduled appearance.

Uhm, nope. (Although I did enjoy that video of Bill Gates last days at Microsoft).

Absolutely then at WDC, Microsoft can't be that stupid. Don't they realize they are sliding further down a slippery slope? Okay, Palm is pretty much a non-issue at this point (are they even there?), but Apple, RIM, and King of the World Nokia are about to relegate them to the ultimate niche market: the business sector (the same misguided idea Palm clung until it's now too late) .

Even Papa Ed at Brighthand is starting to question what's going on with Windows Mobile.

What needed to have happened at WDC was an announcement: Windows Mobile 6.1. Available now. To everyone. Free. Drop the mic and walk off the stage.

Joe Wilcox raises an interesting point at Microsoft Watch , the big software growth is going to be in the mobile phone sector. The projections are through the roof. A cell phone for every person on the planet. More people own (and will own) cell phones than will ever own PCs. That should be Microsoft's new growth market, and they've already got a foot in the door with Windows Mobile.

Sustainable corporate growth is not going to come from advertising (and what brand of corporate Kool-Aid decided a company that makes software should even be in the ad business?). What should you care, Microsoft, what people use to search as long as they are doing it on a Windows powered PC or mobile device?  Google's search dominance (or ad revenue) is not your enemy.

Apple understands that. That's why they stick to iPods, iPhones and Macs. They have a browser that can search but they are far more concerned that you do whatever you do on an Apple product than anything else. And they work really hard to make their platform the platform of choice to do all of that.

It's a new day and if you don't realize it Microsoft, you and Palm will be sitting together wondering what happened as you're closing down shop.

I don't expect Windows Mobile 6.1 to silence the critics. Heck, our esteemed editor here at Morning Paper will be chomping at the bit to chime in on this. But from what I've seen, WinMo 6.1 is (at least) a few steps in the right direction.

And we need(ed)  to see it yesterday.

Comments

[GoodThings2Life]

Good news and bad news for you...

The good news is that WM6.1 is already "in the works" with OEMs like HTC and Samsung (and others, no doubt). So at this point, it's all up to them to determine how soon we see it on phones.

The other good news is that XDA-Developers and PPCGeeks have been creating custom ROMs with 6.1 for a few weeks now, especially for the HTC PPC-6800 (Mogul series).

The bad news is that the AT&T welcome screen seems to be a T-Mobile Shadow-like exclusive, but at least 6.1 does have some corporate benefits, a more stable Mobile IE, and threaded text-message conversations.

[Aaron J. Walker]

Thanks for the comments GoodThings2Life.

So, seeing as I happen to know you have a Sprint Mogul, does that mean you've been basking in Windows Mobile 6.1 goodness? And not telling anyone?

As for AT&T, it really doesn't matter what they do with the welcome/home screen when it is released, any WinMo user worth his/her weight in salt has probably already replaced the anemic carrier branded home screen and the equally anemic default Windows Mobile screen with something more to their individual liking. (One of the great things I like about Windows Mobile is its customization.)

I only had to look at the home screen of my Motorola Q9h as long as it took me to get Facade up and running on the new device. Haven't seen the carrier version since.