Sure, we're still waiting for Windows Mobile 6.5 to actually ship. But word on the street is that Windows Mobile 7 is going to be much cooler anyway. Unfortunately, it's not likely to show up on any cellphones until 2010 at the earliest. But an anonymous tipster sent a few screenshots to wmpoweruser that may give us an idea of what the next, next generation version of Windows Mobile will look lke.

It looks like the battery and volume meters have moved to the bottom of the display, while a WiFi indicator is still visible at the top of the screen. The home screen has a series of icons that users can flip through to launch programs, and perhaps most intriguingly, nothing that looks like a Windows Start Menu. There's also a picture of a map application that doesn't look quite like any existing app available for Windows Mobile.

I'd take these images with a grain of salt. They could be real, but they could also be concept designs from Microsoft or just a mockup from some random person who enjoys spreading rumors on the internet.

[via Electronista]

Something odd is going on in the world of Windows Mobile development. Last I'd heard Microsoft was working on a new product called Windows Mobile 7 that would be due out in the second half of 2009. But Motorola's CEO of mobile devices Sanjay Jha mentioned something interesting during an earnings call today. He said phones based on Windows Mobile 6.5 will be available during the second half of 2009. He also mentioned that Motorola would have an Android-based phone by next year's holiday season, but that's another story.

So what's this Windows Mobile 6.5? Is it an incremental upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1? Or is it just another name for Windows Mobile 7? Based on leaked screenshots, we know that Microsoft is certainly working on something new in the mobile space. But it's not clear whether Jha's comments mean that Windows Mobile 7 has been pushed back, or if Microsoft will release the next OS on schedule, but call it Windows Mobile 6.5 instead, which would seem to imply that it will be an incremental upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1, not a revolutionary new mobile OS.

[via CoolSmartPhone]

T-Mobile and Google are announcing the availability of the first mobile phone running the new Google Android software today. But if you're holding out for the next generation of Windows Mobile devices, it looks like you might have to wait a while. CNet is reporting that Windows Mobile 7, which had widely been expected to ship early next year, will not be available until the second half of 2009.

The news comes from Microsoft partners, not the company itself. But a delay could seriously hurt Microsoft's mobile market share. The company faces increasing competition from Apple, Google, and Research in Motion.

Microsoft could offer some new features to Windows Mobile 6 users this year, including an improved web browser and better support for online Flash content.

Nathan Weinberg at InsideMicrosoft has either got a great big scoop on some of the features Microsoft plans to put into Windows Mobile 7, or way too much time on his hands. For the duration of this post, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he got his hands on a leaked Microsoft document from sometime this summer explaining the new features to be packed into Windows Mobile 7.

The biggest news is that Microsoft plans to react to the iPhone's multi-touch screen in a big way. Windows Mobile 7 will reportedly support multi-touch, gesture controls, and will even react to motion thanks to interaction with your Smartphone's camera. Of course, there's a good chance not every device running Windows Mobile 7 will actually have a camera or a multi-touch screen, but the goal is to eliminate the scroll bar and let users flick from screen to screen a la the iPhone. Overall, the OS will supposedly be more finger-friendly than Windows Mobile 6 and earlier devices which really depend on a stylus or hardware keypad.

Weinberg also reports Windows Mobile 7 will get a major graphics overhaul, looking a bit more like Windows Vista than the iPhone. And he's also got screenshots of an improved on-screen keyboard and media player. While all signs point to Windows Mobile 8 being way cooler than Windows Mobile 7, if Weinberg's source is accurate, then we still can't wait to get our hands on a device running the next version of Microsoft's mobile operating system.

Windows Mobile may have trounced PalmOS pretty completely over the last few years, but if the mobile operating system wants to maintain its market share, it's going to need to make some changes. For example, iPhone has raised the bar for mobile web browsing while the Windows Mobile version of Internet Explorer feels like a web browser from 1997 at best.

The folks at Microsoft are well aware that Apple, BlackBerry, Symbian, and others are continuing to push the envelope. While Microsoft is preparing to release Windows Mobile 6.1 with a few tweaks here and there, Microsoft reps have leaked some details about the much bigger changes coming in Windows Mobile 7 and 8 to a few high profile gadget blogs including Engadget and Gizmodo.

Here's what in store for Windows Mobile 7:

• Upgraded applications, including new SMS and email programs and essentially a port of the desktop version of Internet Explorer 6 (does this mean we still won't have tabbed browsing?)
• Zoomed web browsing features
• Improved music and photo applications

And Windows Mobile 8:

• Completely redesigned interface
• Global search feature
• More intelligent connections between the phone and OS features. For example, dial a contact and bring up all recent emails from that person, see their address, and other contact info all at once.

Of course, you can do some of these things today by using 3rd party software. But we're willing to bet most users don't think of their cellphones as software platforms, and as such don't spend a lot of time downloading and installing third party applications. They expect their device to just work when they take it out of the box.