Microsoft Ups Ante with New Mobile Plays

The mobile world was waiting and Microsoft delivered at Mobile World Congress. It officially unveiled Windows Mobile 6.5 along with some new Windows phones, a photo-sharing service, a voice-search technology and, also as expected, a mobile app marketplace.

One of the biggest improvements in the new OS is a better touch-screen interface with easier scrolling and navigation. There’s also an upgrade of IE Mobile that’s supposed to “execute up to 48 percent more tasks than the majority of mobile browsers,” Mobile Marketer reports.

The My Phone back-up and photo-sharing service is a free online portal where users can safely store videos, photos, texts and contacts through a password-protected account.

Microsoft Recite is the voice search designed to compete with similar offerings from Google and Yahoo.

Then there’s the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, where users can browse and buy apps from their Windows Mobile phone or a PC with their Windows Live ID.

You can get a lot more details on the products and services Microsoft announced here.

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