14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software giant is already known to be working on a new version of Windows Mobile, other than Windows Mobile 7, which is expected to land on the market in the second half of the next year, and now that flavor, Windows Mobile 6.5.3, has been spotted on official documentation on MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network). Some of you might be already familiar with this iteration of the operating system, especially if you kept an eye on the long series of leaked builds of WM 6.5.x, but it is only now that we see it officially mentioned at Microsoft.
MSDN, it's no mystery to no one, is the place where any developer goes when searching for documentation on various APIs or manners of building software solutions for various Microsoft products. The Windows Mobile 6.5.3 release, which hasn't been announced officially in any way, though it leaked into the wild, is mentioned in the documentation for the Widget Engine in Windows Mobile 6.5, though there are now details on whether we'll see it landing on handsets.
“A widget can have a menu and it can also define the action of the device soft keys. These tasks are performed through the Menu object. Beginning with the Windows Mobile 6.5.3 release, touchable tiles replace soft keys. For developers, the change from soft keys to touchable tiles is automatic starting with Windows Mobile 6.5.3. All of the following applies to touchable tiles and to soft keys,” the documentation page on MSDN states.
Some of the leaked Windows Mobile 6.5.x builds we were able to spot into the wild before have already shown that the development of the platform includes a series of changes to the soft keys and menus. While there is no more the question of whether Microsoft does have plans for the WM 6.5.3 version, it still remains to be seen what those plans are. As WMExperts notes, with CES 2010 arriving in about a week, we can only hope that an announcement on the platform will be made there.