We recommend! Microsoft Corp. unveiled its Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system today on what are being called “Windows phones” that focus on touch-friendly features and quicker navigation, acknowledging the influence of the iPhone. The phones should ship as early as July.
The new version of the company’s mobile operating system has been overhauled for touch-screen phones, with a home screen designed for scrolling vertically through menu items by flicking a finger, then delving deeper into specific menu items by scrolling horizontally. The approach will be familiar to users of Microsoft’s Zune device, which uses a similar scrolling vertical and horizontal menu without a touch interface. The new OS is due to ship on phones starting in the second half of this year.
The new version of Internet Explorer Mobile is built on Microsoft’s older PC Web browser, Internet Explorer 6. (The company is now finalizing IE8 for the PC.) The updated mobile browser will allow people to finish more online transactions, Rockfeld said.
Another new offering, Microsoft Recite, came out of the company’s research group. This software, also in an early test version, allows people to record voice notes or other audio files on Windows Mobile phones and then search for keywords using their voice.
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