By Grace Chng

CONSUMERS here will be among the first in the world to get their hands on the new Windows Mobile 6.5 phones.

Microsoft launched the latest iteration of its smartphone operating system last Wednesday globally.

On Friday, the HTC Touch2 will hit stores at authorised outlets here. The next day, Acer will start selling two models, the neoTouch and beTouch E100, with SingTel.

They are among the 30 new phones from Samsung, HTC and LG powered by the new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system which will all hit stores here by year-end.

They sport a touch interface and the red Start button found on all Windows PC.

Billed as a finger-friendly and fun to use phone, large icons replace tiny menus. Users can customise the look of the home screen with 20 themes created by well-known designers like Vera Wang and Diane von Furstenberg.

Apart from synching e-mail and SMS messages as well as contacts with Windows PCs, users can also back-up personal data like contact lists and photos to the Web using a free Microsoft service called MyPhone. Up to 200MB of space can be used for this purpose.

More apps

More features can be added by downloading apps from the online store, Windows Marketplace for Mobile. Currently, there are 246 free and paid apps in categories like games, news and productivity tools.

This is the first time that Windows phone users will be able to download apps for the devices over the air.

These apps have been approved and certified by Microsoft.

More apps are expected as 110,000 Windows Mobile software development kits have been downloaded since June, said Natasha Kwan, general manager, Asia, for Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business.

However, there are over 20,000 existing Windows mobile apps that are available from different websites but not grouped under Windows Marketplace for Mobile. These were developed in the last few years for older Windows phones.

With Windows Mobile 6.5, Microsoft is gearing up to compete in the keenly contested smartphone market.

According to research firm Gartner, Nokia's Symbian phones hit 49.3 per cent of all smartphones sold in the first three months of this year. Research In Motion's BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone took the next two positions with 19.9 per cent and 10.8 per cent respectively.

Windows phone was next with 10.3 per cent.

Competition in the smartphone market will further intensify, said Gartner's press statement last week, given that more phones using Google's software Android will reach retail stores by year-end.

Gartner's forecast for 2010 is that the Symbian, BlackBerry and iPhone will continue their stranglehold on the top three positions according to unit sales.

However, Android will surface in fourth position, taking 8.5 per cent of all smartphones sold and Windows phone will slip in next, with 8.1 per cent share of unit sales. To do better, one way will be for Microsoft to quickly increase the number of apps in its online store. iPhone users, for example, have over 65,000 apps to choose from.

Windows phone's biggest advantage is that it can tap the large base of computer users who will want to be able to easily synch their phones with Windows PCs to get their calendar, e-mail, Word and Excel documents on the go.

chngkeg@sph.com.sg

Phones can be upgraded

FOR Windows phones using Windows Mobile 6.1, they can be upgraded to the new cellphone software unveiled last week.

They include phones such as the HTC Touch Diamond2, Pro2 and Snap; Omnia II and Omnia Pro B7320 and LG 370.

Upgrading will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes for each handset. The software upgrade is free.

Users of these sets can download the new software from the handset makers' website.

However, for hassle-free upgrade, users can also go to the customer service centres of the handset makers.

HTC's upgrading service is available immediately while Samsung's offering will be available from the end of this month for the Omnia II and year-end for the Omnia Pro B7320.

The update for LG 370 will be ready by December.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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