14 DAY TRIAL // This is one nice surprise for Windows Mobile enthusiasts out there. After a long list of rumors, scattered appearances and leaked builds, the Windows Mobile 6.5.3 flavor of Microsoft's mobile operating system has been released into the wild. The Redmond-based company has made available for download the Windows Mobile 6.5 Software Development Kit a few days ago, which actually brought around emulator images of Windows Mobile 6.5.3, it seems.
The new flavor of Microsoft's mobile client has been spotted into the wild before, not only in the long list of leaked builds that we reported on, but also on the company's own site, in some widget documentation. But while that was only a mentioning, a recent article on WMPoweruser notes that the recently outed Windows Mobile 6.5 SDK actually includes the 6.5.3 platform, and that they already tested it to see what version it bears.
Things are getting clearer and clearer when it comes to the Windows Mobile flavor that Microsoft might actually launch at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month. While the company is still expected to unveil plans regarding the next-generation Windows Mobile 7 platform, the WM 6.5.3 version should also be introduced, especially since the first mobile phones to run under it were already spotted at large.
Another proof of this state of facts comes from a recent post on pocketnow, which states that “a reliable source” already confirmed that Windows Mobile 6.5.3 had been actually released to manufacturing in December of 2009. Microsoft kept mum on the matter, yet some of you might already know that the platform was spotted at CES 2010 in Las Vegas on a few devices coming from various makers.
The new flavor of the operating system comes around with a nice range of user interface modifications, making Microsoft's platform more touch friendly than before, yet it seems that the 6.5.3 version will actually be a smaller update than 6.5 was. However, the big changes should arrive with Windows Mobile 7, which, hopefully, will be unveiled at MWC or at MIX10, and will land on the market before the end of the ongoing year.