Windows Mobile 6.5 on Over 30 Phones This Year

Redmond-based Microsoft is getting ready to release on the market the latest flavor of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5, on October 6, and seems to be very optimistic about the market availability of the platform. According to the software giant, a number of more than 30 mobile phones are expected to hot the shelves with its new OS variant, and that will happen before 2009 is over.

A number of 15 handset makers have already lined up to launch Windows Mobile 6.5-based devices on the market during the ongoing year, Benjamin Tan, senior director, GCR Mobile Team Unit at Microsoft China, has recently stated, DigiTimes reports. Some of said vendors have already announced plans to unveil Windows phones in the near future, yet others are still expected to make an official announcement on their plans.

The list of phone makers that should come to the market with devices based on Microsoft's soon-to-be-here platform includes HTC (High Tech Computer), Acer, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics (LGE), Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, and Hewlett-Packard (HP), the news site notes. Sony Ericsson and HP seem to be the only vendors that haven't yet specified their intentions, though reports on their plans already emerged.

Along with these companies, wireless carriers around the world will also offer support for the forthcoming mobile operating system, and we can count here US operators like AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless, or T-Mobile, as well as other companies from other parts of the world, including Orange, Vodafone, NTT DoCoMO, Softbank Mobile, SKT, Telstra and Telus.

At the same time, it should be noted that there are no exact details on which handset maker will unveil new phones based on Windows Mobile 6.5, and which plans on upgrading existing handsets to the OS. Even so, we already learned about the HTC Touch2, Sony Ericsson Xperia X2, LG GM750, Acer F1 and some Samsung Omnia phones that will surface with WM 6.5 on board right from the start, as well as on devices like Touch Pro2 and Touch Diamond2 from HTC, Toshiba TG01 or the Omnia series from Samsung that will receive the Windows Mobile 6.5 makeover.