Microsoft today unveiled Windows Mobile 6, the newest version of its mobile software platform. By improving usability and adding support for Microsoft Office features previously available only on PCs, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 delivers to the small screen a familiar experience that meets the needs of work and life while on the go.

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Windows Mobile 6 can view emails in their original HTML format with live links to Web and SharePoint sites, which means text and images are displayed as they would be on a PC, and are available from a corporate email server such as Exchange Server 2007, from Web-based accounts such as Windows Live Hotmail or from other popular service providers. Windows Mobile 6 also includes Windows Live for Windows Mobile, which provides customers with Windows Live services. For example, now through Windows Live Messenger, people can chat with more than one person at one time, express themselves through animated figures, quickly send a file or image, or record and send voice notes.

The newest version of the platform offers a Microsoft Office system experience in the mobile versions of Office Outlook, Office Word, Office Excel and Office PowerPoint by bringing capabilities once available only on the PC versions of these products to the small screen. This allows users to neatly view, navigate and edit Word documents and Excel spreadsheets in their original formatting, without affecting tables, images or text, and to view PowerPoint presentations on their device.

All Windows Mobile 6 powered devices include Direct Push Technology for up-to-date email delivery and automatic synchronization of Outlook calendars, tasks and contacts through Microsoft Exchange Server. Windows Mobile 6 also offers a set of important device security and management features that include the capability to remotely wipe all data from a device should it be lost or stolen, helping ensure that confidential information remains that way.

By the second quarter of this year, the world will see the first Windows Mobile 6 powered devices available on the market. In the United States, the popular T-Mobile Dash will be updated with Windows Mobile 6 and be available in the coming months. Current T-Mobile Dash owners will also be able to upgrade existing devices with Windows Mobile 5.0 to Windows Mobile 6.

Additional mobile operators and device makers, including Cingular, now the new AT&T, HP, LG Electronics, Motorola, Palm, Samsung, Sprint and Verizon Wireless, plan to ship Windows Mobile 6-based devices this year. Many of these partners are expanding large existing portfolios of Windows Mobile powered smartphones.

Users of the Microsoft Office system on the PC will feel right at home with the new mobile versions of Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint available for Windows Mobile 6 powered devices. Windows Mobile 6 addresses extensive user feedback and makes information management easier and more convenient through the following improvements:

- Better-looking email - Users view email the way it was intended with its original pictures, tables and formatting, whether from a corporate email server such as Exchange Server 2007, Web-based accounts such as Windows Live Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail, or a wide range of other service providers.

- Ease of viewing and editing of Office system documents - The new Office Mobile suite, built for all Windows Mobile powered devices, gives users a familiar experience with rich viewing and editing capabilities, without having to worry about the deletion of critical formatting and images.

- Email management and setup with fewer clicks - Nine new one-click options have been added, including Reply All, setting a flag, moving a message to a subfolder, and, of course, Delete. Users can set an automatic out-of-office reply while on the road when using a Windows Mobile 6 powered device and Exchange Server 2007.

- Synchronization with Windows Vista - Windows Vista and the Windows Mobile Device Center take the guesswork out of managing a device and swapping music, pictures, movies and Outlook information between PC and the device.

- Smart calendar bar - This innovative new feature gives users the ability to understand at a glance the day or week ahead and quickly determine open time on their schedules. With Exchange Server 2007, they can see who is attending a meeting and forward or reply to meeting requests.

- Web search, email, instant messaging (IM) and blogging all together - Windows Live for Windows Mobile will provide customers with a rich set of services including Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, Live Search and Windows Live Spaces, designed to work with Windows Mobile software. Users can also find all their contacts in one unified list and see presence information on their Windows Live Messenger contacts.

- Contacts with context - Call history is now placed where it belongs, in each individual contact card, so people spend less time searching and more time communicating.

Windows Mobile efficiently works with existing Microsoft business technology investments and offers users a familiar software experience, making it the smartest mobile solution for businesses to deploy:

- Security options - The platform offers a variety of security options, giving IT departments ways to help secure a device, including new Exchange Server policies and certificate options, storage card encryption, and continued support for remote and local device wipe.

- Protected content - Organizations using Information Rights Management (IRM) technology to help control the viewing, storing and printing of confidential information on PCs can now extend those capabilities to Windows Mobile 6 powered devices, a feature not available on any other mobile phone platform.

- Line-of-business applications - Powerful, new mobile versions of the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework and Microsoft SQL Server are built into Windows Mobile 6, making it even easier to create and access sales tools, inventory tracking and many other applications from a Windows Mobile 6 powered smartphone.

- Internet sharing - A new built-in application makes using a Windows Mobile 6 powered smartphone as a laptop's high-speed modem "one-click easy" with either a Bluetooth wireless or cable connection.

- Communication alternatives - Windows Mobile 6 makes it easier for operators and device-makers to integrate a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) solution into devices they are building. HP will be among the first to provide smartphones with new VoIP offerings for their business customers.