First Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system pictures. Steve Balmer, CEO of Microsoft, reportedly proudly unveiled these two screenshots to the world at PDC 2008. We wont be seeing this version on handsets until 2009.Although not much is known about the release of Windows Mobile 6.5, we do know that Microsoft will be launching their Sky Market alternative to Apples App Store.

According to John Wang, CMO, High Tech Computer (HTC), who added in saying the company will continue to simultaneously develop smartphones based on the two platforms.

The key element is innovation, said Wang, noting that the T-Mobile G1 is being rolled by combining Google’s Internet services, HTC’s proven capability in smartphone manufacturing, and T-Mobile’s telecom network resources.

While the introduction of Android handsets helps HTC expand its product mix, Windows Mobile-based smartphones will continue to be the most important market for HTC, Wang stated.

Listen up all you Palm Treo Pro hopefuls, your pre-order unit is now shipping with Palm’s on-line store showing in stock availability. The Windows Mobile phone matches up with specs from the initial launch and is considered Palm’s first true world 3G phone, with tri-band HSDPA covering service on AT&T and Rogers in North America as well as European, Japanese and Korean carriers. It also carries GPS mapping, Wi-Fi networking and a two-megapixel camera.

The handset ships only in its characteristic black and costs $549 as an unlocked phone for use with either AT&T or T-Mobile as well as foreign carriers, though 3G speeds are limited to AT&T for American customers.

If you have a Verizon Wireless’s Treo 700wx now you can upgrade their smartphone to Windows Mobile 6. Palm has just released the Treo 700wx Updater 1.24 on the support page. The releases note did not mention a Windows Mobile 6.1, so it is more likely to be the earlier Windows Mobile 6 version.

Treo 700wx Updater 1.24 Windows Mobile 6 :

• Calendar functionality - See the big picture at a glance. A Topline bar in the agenda view shows when you’re free or busy, and when you have scheduling conflicts. Drill down to view meeting attendees, contact information, acceptance status, and reply-to or forward meeting requests.
• Email support- Send and receive HTML emails with tables, bullets, and colored text intact,The “smart filter” for contact search is available so you can search for emails stored on your company’s Exchange Server. Send an automated “out-of-office” message from your device.
• Office 2007 support - Open and edit Microsoft Office Word and Microsoft Office Excel documents, and view Microsoft Office PowerPoint documents. Backward compatible with Office 2003.
• Windows Vista compatibility - Easily sync your smartphone to your Windows Vista PC, via the Windows Mobile Device Centre (WMDC).
• Powerful security and IT policies - Remotely wipe devices and SD cards clean in case of loss or theft. Plus, IT can create and enforce tougher security policies, such as password protection to better manage the entire device fleet.
• Email hot keys - Work in the fast lane with single-key access to your most frequently used email functions. Press “r” to reply, “a” to reply all, or “m” to move to one of your folders.
• Email Inbox search - Find that important document or email. Automatically search for attachments, senders, or keywords by simply typing a few letters while you’re in your email inbox.
• Access Sharepoint - Get what you need then get going. Access documents stored on your company’s SharePoint servers via links in HTML emails

The Samsung SGH-i900 Omnia is latest Windows Mobile smartphone, featuring a touchscreen which was announced last month. The Samsung SGH-i900 Omnia is latest rival for Apple iPhone 3G.It has great features, looks sexy like Apple iPhone and is a worthy contender to become the king of smartphones. Below you have the list of features.

Samsung Omnia i900 Specifications

* Dimensions: 112 x 56.9 x 12.5 mm
* Weight: 127 gms
* Display: 240 x 400 px, 3.2“ TFT, 65K Colors
* Camera: 5 MP Cam with AF and Flash, VGA cam for video calls
* Chipset: 624MHz Marvell PXA312 CPU
* Memory: 8 GB / 16 GB Internal memory, 128 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM
* Connectivity: GPRS Class 12, EDGE Class 12, 3G HSDPA 7.2 MBPS, WLAN 802.11 b/g, USB v2.0
* Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
* GPS: GPS Receiver with A-GPS
* OS: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Other Features: FM Radio with RDS, Geotagging, Built in Accelerometer for automatic screen rotation, 3.5 mm audio jack, TouchWiz UI, Optical Joystick.

The Samsung Omnia i900 offers a range of multimedia features, including a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and face detection, as well as support for DivX, XviD, H.263, H.264 WMV and MP4 video files. The Samsung SGH-i900 Omnia comes with the handset, the battery, the charger, a stereo in-ear headset and the USB sync-cable as well as with some PC-software and the manual. A stylus, and this is also unique for Windows Mobile Professional smartphones is left and only available as accessory. Also available as separate accessories are a leather case and a TV-out cable

Skype has released new Skype for Windows Mobile today, the new version 2.2.0.45 supports Windows Mobile 6.1 officially. No other improvements are listed in the release note though. You can download the Skype 2.2.0.45 here

Samsung i740 now official! This Windows Mobile 6.1 GPS enabled 2.5G smartphone is coming soon and has gone official in Ukraine. Although it doesn’t have 3G connectivity, its other specs quite make up for the loss. These include 3.2 megapixel camera, big 2.8″ QVGA display, built-in GPS sensor, FM radio and optical joystick
Samsung i740 specs include:

- Tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 connectivity
- Windows Mobile 6.1 OS
- 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus
- 2.8″ 320×240 QVGA, 262K color TFT display
- FM Radio
- GPS Navigation
- USB 2. and Bluetooth A2DP
- 150 MB of user memory
- microSD memory card slot
- 1500 mAh battery
- Dimensions: 107×59×13.9 mm

You can expect the phone to sell for around € 285 or $450.

Samsung Electronics unveiled its 3G HSDPA smartphone ‘BlackJack III(model: SCH-M480)’ dubbed as ‘Ultra Messaging 2′ in Korea market. It will be available in the mid of July through SK Telecom for around 600,000 won. Running on Windows Mobile 6 Professional, the SCH-M480…adopts a 2.6-inch touchscreen display with 320×320 pixel resolution, a BlackBerry style keypad and finger mouse. Other features included a 2M camera for video calling, MP3/MPEG4, WMV files support, and micro SD card slot.

Samsung Electronics launches two premium smart phones ‘Ultra Messaging II(model: SCH-M480)’ and ‘Multi Touch II(model: )’ in Korea market.

Running on Windows Mobile 6 Professional, the SCH-M480 can work with Microsoft Office documents, browse the web, play a variety of multimedia files and read email. Supporting wireless LAN(802.11b/g), Bluetooth connectivity, it adopts a 2.6-inch touchscreen display with 320×320 pixel resolution, a BlackBerry style keypad and finger mouse. Other features included a 2M camera for video calling, MP3/MPEG4, WMV files support, and micro SD card slot. It is available through SK Telecom for around 600,000 won.

The SPH-M4655 is 14mm-thick PDA phone featuring 2.8-inch LCD display, supporting e-mail and DMB, EV-DO Rev A. Powered by a 624MHz processor, 128MB of RAM and 256MB of ROM, it features Windows Mobile 6.1 OS, a 2M camera, Bluetooth and a microSD card slot. Supporting LG Telecom’s OZ 3G services, this phone is available for around 500,000 won.

Samsung today announced the open market availability of the SGH-i200 Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard smartphone.
Featuring triband GSM/GPRS/EDGE at 900/1800/1900 MHz and singleband UMTS/HSDPA at 2100 MHz (up to 3.6 Mbps) as well as Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (including A2DP), the i200 unfortunately lacks WiFi and GPS. On the back the i200 sports a  2.0 megapixel camera with face detection technology and smile-shot functionality; while on the front it has an additional VGA camera for UMTS video telephony. The non-touchscreen measures 2.3″, supports QVGA resolution and includes a light-sensor.At a size of 116 x 50 x 11.8 mm, the smartphone weights - including the 1100 mAh battery - 102 gram only. According to Samsung, the device has a standby time up to 280 hours and a talk-time up to 3.3 hours.

In addition to the typical Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard applications, the SGH-i200 includes Microsoft Office Mobile, Windows Live Messenger and ClearVue,the Samsung SGH-i200 is now available for 399 Euro.