New Look, New Integration for Windows Mobile
Monday, April 6th, 2009
Microsoft
Bach outlined Microsoft’s target, a “three-screens-and-a-cloud scenario” in which “our customers can get the services and capabilities they want delivered to any device whenever they want.”
Such a scenario involves interaction and syncing between your “three screens”—TV, PC, and mobile phone—and an online account that manages them and backs up your content. Bach pointed out that, ideally, “A Windows PC, a Windows phone, and a Windows Live service will create that connected experience that we’re talking about.”
Microsoft’s new My Phone service will facilitate that connectivity. The service backs up a Windows Mobile phone’s data and content, and lets users access that content via PC. For instance, users can search for text messages on their phones using their PCs.
Bach also took the audience on a tour of Windows 6.5 (which you can see for yourself in our Windows Mobile 6.5 slideshow), and talked about the newly announced customizability options. Designers like Isaac Mizrahi have signed on to design wallpapers for Windows Mobile phones.
Besides nifty skins and wallpapers, another way to customize a Windows Mobile phone is through apps from the Microsoft Mobile Marketplace. Bach said that all apps in the Marketplace are certified by Microsoft, that users can back them up, and said there’s a self-serve refund feature with which users can get their money back for apps they aren’t satisfied with.
Adam Sussman from Electronic Arts joined Bach on stage to talk up the Mobile Marketplace, and promised that “every major EA Mobile release this year will be available on the Windows Mobile platform.”
