AT AN EVENT to show off upcoming Christmas goodies, Microsoft let slip to the INQ that Windows Mobile 6.5 is to be re-christened Windows Phone. This, says Vole, is an effort to unboggle the minds of the consumer with all the "6.1" and "6.5" business that exists now, and which they're afraid will get even worse when Windows Mobile 7 arrives. The name change also "reflects the upcoming desktop operating system release where people away from their PC can have the same experience everywhere," says Microsoft. Are you suitably un-boggled? The name Windows Phone applies to Windows Mobile 6.1, 6.5 and multitouch Windows Mobile 7. At least something in the Windows universe is forwards and backwards compatible. Features of the new platform (that is WM 6.5, aka Windows Phone) include back-up of all SMS and email content into Vole's cloud, remote disabling of the handset and inclusion of an Itunes-alike Windows Mobile software repository called Market Place. I
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