The “dot 1″ Means It’s New

This is Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, the new upgrade to the Windows Mobile operating system for touch-screen smartphones. Now, I’m sure if you’re a tech geek, like myself, you read on April 1st (of all days) that Microsoft had officially announced its impending arrival, but here at Wirefly, we try to stay ahead of the curve and keep our ear to the street to inform you, the loyal reader.

The first noticeable difference is the home screen. It will be very similar to what’s already on the Sprint HTC Touch, Alltel HTC Touch and Verizon XV6900 (coming soon…) in that it features a nifty program called HTC Home which compiles email, Text/MMS messages and missed calls into one snazzy looking interface. There’s also a favorite persons tab, weather tab, program launcher, and profile selector (normal, vibrate, silent and timed). I got my blue background from an awesome designer over at the XDA-Developers forum who goes by ericc191 (you can see his post here, but you’ll have to sign up to download the themes).

There are plenty of new upgrades inside of this puppy as well. For those of you out there who have (or really want) the AT&T Tilt, you’re in for a treat as it’s been confirmed that Video Share will be coming for it, which is a big plus for people wanting to use the one-way video calling feature. Also included in WM 6.1 will be an upgraded camera, newer version of Windows Live Mobile, overall speed increases and a new “Getting Started� application. “Getting Started� allows you to create a new text message, set your ringtone, set up an email account, or anything else that might take some hunting down through different menus and settings. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi set ups are also now much easier.

There are also more security enhancements. Specifically for the I.T. department in businesses, there’s now a Domain Enroll application and Managed Programs application. Domain Enroll will allow you to have your device safely & securely connect to your business’s network. Managed Programs will allow you to push proprietary or approved Windows Mobile compatible company software through the network and have those applications install automatically.

The upgrade that I find most useful is the new threaded text messaging feature. With Windows Mobile 6 and lower, the text messages would be listed one by one and sometimes it would get very hard to keep up. Now with WM 6.1 you can see all text messages to one person as a conversation. The appearance is akin to instant messaging with timestamps and easy to read format. Be careful though as this can make text messaging even more addicting than before so I suggest you make sure you have a high text option for your rate plan.

Ok, by now I’m sure you’re wondering when it’s going to be your turn to use all of this. Alltel, AT&T and Sprint (sorry T-Mobers and Verizoners) have the base operating system now and will be adding their custom carrier content flavor to it, so expect a steady release to start soon. Touch screen devices that will get this upgrade are listed as follows:

Alltel: HTC PPC6800, HTC Touch
AT&T: Samsung BlackJack II, Motorola Q9 Global, Pantech Duo, AT&T Tilt
Sprint: A new Palm Treo (rumored to be the 800w), Mogul by HTC, Touch by HTC, Motorola Q9c, Samsung Ace.

Note that all Samsung, Motorola and Pantech cell phones listed will receive an upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard (meaning no touch screen capabilities).

For more info you can check out Microsoft’s official press release.

Keep your browser favorites pointed to the Wirefly Blog as we’ll bring you more information as the upgrade roll outs begin. We will also bring you information about Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard when we can test out the OS for ourselves because let’s face it; non-touch screen phones need love too.