Microsoft Office Professional Plus Is Windows Mobi

At the Consumer Electronics Exhibit, Microsoft execs held off those restless for an upate on Windows Mobile using the refrain of “just wait until Barcelona.” But what happens if Barcelona doesn;t provide the big bang many are expecting — and that Microsoft needs in the mobile space?
DigiTimes is reporting that Microsoft may end up making use of the upcoming Cellular World Congress (MWC) display in Spain in mid-February not as a showcase for Windows Cellular 7, but as the launch pad for Windows Mobile 6.6 — an interim version of Windows Cellular that is designed to take advantage of capacitive screen phones with advanced touch capabilities. (That rumored WinMo capacitive-screen update has gone by various names over the past few months, including Windows Cellular 6.5 and 6.7.)
I went back and looked in the exact wording of what Microsoft Entertainment and Devices President Robbie Bach said to Wall Street analysts at CES who peppered him with questions about Microsoft;s Windows Cellular strategy. One analyst asked him very specifically about Windows Cellular 7 timing. Here;s what Bach said (from the transcript):
“So, the challenge for us as we come into 2010 and we are going to have some new things that will talk about at Mobile World Congress, as we come into that, the first bar people should look at is to say, wow, are they doing a great job with the product. And when you look in the product, I;m sort of like, I have the luxury of having seen it, to be able to look at it and played with it a little bit, but I;m certainly confident people are going to see it as something that;s differentiated and something that really does move the bar forward, not in an evolutionary way from where we are today, but it;s something that feels,Office Professional 2007 Key, looks, acts and performs completely different.”
Given that the question was not about Windows Mobile in general, but Windows Mobile 7, specifically, I believed (as I;m sure others listening live and remotely) that he was talking about Windows Cellular 7 here. But if Bach was doing what he seems to do quite often – providing an answer vague enough that it says nothing — he;ll be able to say his answer was misrepresented. The actual wording of his answer doesn;t use the words “Windows Mobile 7,” meaning,Office Pro 2007 Key, he could claim he was referring to WM 6.6 or whatever the rumored capacitive screen release comes to be called.
Another worrisome piece of evidence: Some time in the past week,Office 2007 Ultimate Key, Microsoft removed any references to Windows Cellular from the Mix 2010 present site. A week ago, I saw a session placeholder saying there;d be some Windows Mobile content of interest to Mix attendees in the demonstrate, but it was too early to provide specifics. That placeholder is now gone, as are any references in the “Sessions” area to Windows Cellular.
Microsoft officials will have a tough time wriggling out of that one. In the Professional Developers Conference in November 2009, Microsoft execs committed to having more to say about Windows Cellular 7 at Mix in mid-March 2010. From the transcript of the keynote by Office Vice President Kurt DelBene from PDC:
“The other thing is I;d love to kind of now that we;re wrapping up at least the keynotes in terms of this conference, I;d like to invite you to the next one, to the MIX conference where we will be talking about Windows Mobile, kind of talk about Windows Mobile 7 and where that;s heading, where that new advancement is,Microsoft Office Professional Plus, talk again about Silverlight, and just a whole raft of additional things.”
In case you;re wondering whether the Redmondians are confirming/denying any of the recent claims that Windows Mobile 7 is slipping out beyond 2010, they aren;t. They also aren;t confirming whether Windows Cellular 7 will get its debut in Barcelona. I asked, and got the usual statement, that Microsoft doesn;t comment on rumors.
My gut is Microsoft will talk about Windows Mobile 7 in Barcelona. Will they actually demo it? They should — if for no other reason than to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that it does exist. Will this be the “launch” of it? No way.
The real question,Microsoft Office 2007 Product Key, of course, is when Microsoft will release Windows Cellular 7 to manufacturing. If Microsoft wants phones out in time for holiday 2010, it needs to be this summer, I;d think. If it gets much later, some phone makers will likely be unwilling/unable to get their Windows Cellular 7 phones out until early 2011….
Update: Directions on Microsoft analyst Matt Rosoff mentioned to me (via Twitter) that he;s hearing the long-rumored Pink phone could make its debut in Barcelona, too… I wouldn;t be too stunned to see/hear about the Pink services, but it would be interesting if the Pink phone(s) finally got official confirmation there, as well.