Microsoft Updates Windows Mobile To Make It More Like The iPhone. (My Phone, Anyone?).

Once again, Microsoft is throwing some flattery Apple's way by following its lead. Earlier today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Microsoft announced the latest version of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5. The new OS takes cues directly from the iPhone. It has "an improved touch-screen interface, making it easy to take action with a finger" (so advanced) and a dashboard-like interface with different application icons in honeycomb cells ( screen shots ). One of those icons will launch a Windows Marketplace with 20,000 mobile apps, similar to how the iTunes App Store can be accessed directly from the iPhone. And the phones will come with a new My Phone service, formerly codenamed Skybox , which sync contacts, emails, text messages, calendar, and pictures. Apple has a similar syncing service for the iPhone called MobileMe . The new mobile OS will appear in phones in the second half of 2009.