Rumor Mill: WinMo 6.5 coming in Q3 2009

Microsoft's new upgrade of its Windows Mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5, will be available for handset makers in the third quarter of 2009, according to a report in DigiTimes.

The report, citing sources at a Taiwanese handset maker, said that after Microsoft unveils the new OS, as it is expected to do next month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the software giant will look to get the new version onto handsets by the third quarter of the year, with a major expansion expected in the fourth quarter in time for the holiday shopping season.

The report also said that Microsoft plans to continue its current business model of offering WinMo on a wide array of products and handset makers. Recently, however, Windows Mobile vice president of marketing Todd Peters said the company planned on limiting the number of devices the OS launched on, so as not to spread it too thin and to get better integration between the phone and the OS.

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