Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5, its upcoming operating system for mobile devices, includes a number of improvements designed to compete against the capabilities of Apple’s iPhone, the Palm Pre and other smartphones. Because the name of the game has increasingly become the number of mobile applications a company can offer, Microsoft also plans on rolling out Windows Marketplace for Mobile, its own applications portal, later in 2009.

Embracing the shift toward touch-screens, Windows Mobile 6.5 has been specifically tailored to allow the user to tap, pan and flick to navigate through the interface; the Start screen has been designed in a honeycomb configuration for easier finger-navigation. The newest version of Windows Mobile also brings the ability to enter a PIN and interact with message notifications even from the Lock screen, as well as to display customized widgets on the new Start screen.
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