Win Mobile 7 now delayed to 2010?
updated 12:00 pm EDT, Mon September 29, 2008
Win Mobile 7 Delay Again
Microsoft's already reported Windows Mobile 7 delay will be longer than anticipated in practice, according to a tip obtained by VentureBeat. While not immediately pointing to a further delay past late 2009 in completing the mobile OS itself, the reputed source suggests that both carriers and manufacturers will need "months" to refine and produce their own versions. This would push any release until at least 2010 and leave a three-year window between Windows Mobile 6 and its sequel.
In the meantime, Microsoft is reportedly planning to roll its previously planned Internet Explorer Mobile update into a more significant interim upgrade known as Windows Mobile 6.2; the refresh will bring the web rendering engine from Internet Explorer 6 on the desktop to the mobile realm and will finally support full HTML on a Windows Mobile device. It should also support Flash and JavaScript as well as let users "fake" desktop browsing for sites that would otherwise detect Windows Mobile and use a stripped-down version of the page. The bridge release should appear before the end of 2008, according to the report.
Microsoft Windows Mobile project head Scott Rockfeld hasn't either confirmed or denied the report and instead says only that the company is "not publicly sharing" its timetable for version 7.
Any extended delay would nonetheless compound difficulties in the market, where Microsoft already fell short of targets in Windows Mobile sales and the company has faced increasing pressure from phones with more advanced touchscreen phones, such as the iPhone, as well as more user- and home-friendly conventional smartphones from Nokia and RIM.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2008
They need time....
Microsoft needs an extra year and a half so that their programmers can try to copy as much from the iPhone as possible.