@MWC: Microsoft updates Windows Mobile, intros app store, supports Flash

BARCELONA, Spain – As Research in Motion Ltd., Opera Software, Apple Inc. and others encroach on its territory, Microsoft Corp. sought to fight back with an updated version of its mobile-phone operating system, along with an app store and support for Flash technology on the Web.
The announcements highlight the software giant’s intent to protect its position in the mobile market and answer critics who contend the company’s products are becoming overshadowed by flashy and functional offerings from a range of nimble competitors.
“The time has come for us to bring the full Windows experience to mobile phones,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer during the company’s press conference here at the Mobile World Congress trade show.
Ballmer trumpeted Microsoft’s progress in the mobile market, boasting that Windows Mobile licensees have sold more than 50 million phones since the platform’s introduction. HTC Corp., the first company to develop Windows Mobile phones over a decade ago, accounts for 40 million of those devices.
Ballmer also said 11 different models running the Windows Mobile OS have each shipped more than 1 million units – a figure possibly aimed at rivals like Apple that have managed to score a significant share of the smartphone market. Ballmer did not name the phone models.
As for the specifics, Ballmer announced a new iteration of Windows Mobile – 6.5 – that includes support for touch-based manipulation. The company demonstrated the platform, which features a new home screen and graphical applications that tie into Microsoft’s range of online and desktop products.
The OS also requires licensees include a button on the device carrying the Windows flag logo; the button serves the dual purpose of branding the phone and providing users with a recognizable button for menus. RIM’s BlackBerry devices carry a similar button, identified by the BlackBerry logo.
“We’re taking mobile phones to a new level,” Ballmer said.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the company’s new OS is an updated version of Internet Explorer for Windows Mobile. The company said the new Internet browser features the same “engine” as Microsoft’s browser for desktop computers, and can render Adobe Systems’ Flash technology.
Flash has become a point of discussion in the wireless industry of late, due to the large and growing number of Web sites that use the technology to display menus and information. The lack of Flash support on the iPhone has become an issue among fans of the gadget.
That Microsoft upgraded its IE browser for Windows Mobile comes as no surprise; Windows Mobile licensees, including HTC, have recently begun replacing the previous versions of Internet Explorer with Opera’s Web browser, presumably because the latter offers a better Internet browsing experience.
Strangely, Windows Mobile 6.5 does not support Silverlight, which stands as Microsoft’s answer to Adobe’s Flash on the Internet. Microsoft executives hinted that Windows Mobile would support Silverlight at a later date.
As for Microsoft’s new app store – which arrives amid the introduction of seemingly dozens of app stores from the likes of Nokia Corp. and others – the company said Windows Marketplace for Mobile would serve to unify the distribution of the more than 20,000 applications currently available for Windows Mobile phones.
Finally, in response to a question, Ballmer hinted at the next iteration of Windows Mobile, version 7. Microsoft is currently working on a follow-up to its poorly received Windows Vista operating system for desktop computers, and the new version of Windows is simply dubbed “Windows 7.”
“I wouldn’t expect it (Windows Mobile 7) at the same time as Windows 7,” Ballmer said, adding: “Windows Mobile 7 will undoubtedly follow” the release of Windows 7.