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[The Undude]

The Future of Windows Mobile: Crossbow (H1, 2007) and Photon (H1, 2008)
We all know that eventually Windows Mobile 5.0 will be updated or upgraded. But when? And with what changes? An informant has tipped Brighthand to a cached Google webpage with the contents of a slide presentation given during a recent Microsoft "Tech Days" event in Switzerland a few weeks ago.

It seems an update, or Second Edition, to Windows Mobile 5.0 is in the works. Delivery to manufacturers is targeted for Q4, 2006 and a target Q1/Q2 2007 Marketing Launch date is mentioned. Assuming manufacturers like HTC et. al. get this WM 5.0 Second Edition in Q4 2006, a Q2 2007 marketing date seems a little aggressive. Manufacturers will want to ensure their hardware is optimized for 5.0 SE, carrier-specific modifications will be added and all sorts of stability testing from wireless carriers will be needed, and finally wireless carriers will need merchandise in stock.

“Crossbow” (Q4 ‘06)
- Great mobile messaging
- Advanced Business and Enterprise propositions
- Strengthened phone experience
- Faster, easier application development and distribution
- Q1/Q2 ‘07 Marketing Launch

The next full rev of Windows Mobile is code-named "Photon." Release to manufacturers is slated for Q4 2007 and general availability targeted for the first half of 2008. Again, this may seem a little optimistic - and as a full revision, I'd imagine deeper testing will be required than for an incremental update. Brighthand mention, "Photon is planned to have a customizable user interface, and "unified" platform, presumably referring to the Smartphone and Pocket PC branches of the current OS" -- though we have heard this is Microsoft's intent, nowhere is this mentioned in the Google cache.

“Photon” (Q4 ‘07)
- New, Flexible Shell
- Modular Containers
- “Yamazaki” CE kernel
- Q1/Q2 ’08 Marketing Launch

So, what does all this mean? Well, the whole Windows Mobile ecosystem will be effected. For one thing we can expect manufacturers will want to make sure they ship planned Windows Mobile 5.0 devices into the market as soon as possible. Also, wireless carriers will want to sell the device-stock they have before the newer version. Consumers can expect some good "close-out" deals on 5.0 devices. And application developers will need to plan upgrade paths. All this seems like a long way off now, but soon enough, the future will be now.

Source: Google cache of a Microsoft presentation, via Brighthand

NOTE: FYI - The "white-space" in the google-cache page is filled with white text.

UPDATE: You can see the original PowerPoint presentation, here -- or just click on "comment" to see the Windows Mobile Release Roadmap slide.

[GrYph0n]

Looks like that cat is out of the bag.

[abatis]

Hopefully, the mobile platforms will be on a faster track than VISTA . Actually I am beta testing Vista and it is very solid.

I agree with Undude's observation that this may speed WM5 devices to the market. WM5 is an improvement over 2003 considering memory use and other user features. I think we are seeing more hardware that will transition a number of Windows OS upgrades. My Samsung i730 is running great after upgrading to WM5 from 2003. Besides faster processors, better screens and more memory, what else can the hardware vendors do?

[micaels]

That shure sounds great. Wonder if microsoft will start to release os uppdates or manufacturers will take care of them.

@ abatis: How does vista work for you? I shure can't wait untill it comes out.

[The Undude]

That shure sounds great. Wonder if microsoft will start to release os uppdates or manufacturers will take care of them.

Good question. As long as the wireless carriers are supplimenting the basic Windows Mobile OS with features unique to them, one would imagine the wireless carriers are each forced to provide customers any OS updates themselves.

As a matter of simplicity, I suspect the carriers and the manufacturers will both provide the updates. This is what we've seen with the recent PALM Treo 700w updates, and on the HTC Americas website.

[The Undude]

Slide 55 from Sascha P. Corti's presentation during Microsoft Tech Days 2006 presentation.

And here are the speaker notes that accompany this slide.

MSFP – AKU 2.0 – devices in market throughout 2006
Crossbow – devices in market throughout 2007
Photon – devices in market throughout 2008

AKU 2.0/MSFP: In addition to our major releases, we have also adjusted the schedule for AKU 2.0 and MSFP.
We have high expectations for the release of Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU 2.0 and have received considerable, positive, internal and external feedback on our plans for this release. AKU 2.0 will deliver MSFP which in combination with Exchange Server Service Pack 2 (SP2), provides an enhanced end user messaging experience, better performance, and several key device management capabilities when deploying a mobile messaging solution. The final release of AKU 2.0 is now projected for November 4, 2005. A release candidate is projected to be available on October 14, 2005 to OEMs.

Crossbow Wave: As devices and upgrades featuring Windows Mobileä 5.0 Adaptation Kit Update 2.0 (AKU 2.0) with the Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP) become widely available in 1HCY06, a Crossbow release in that same time period decreases Microsoft’s, OEMs’, and mobile operators’ ability to realize the investment made in devices based on AKU 2.0 with MSFP. Under this consideration, we plan to make Crossbow available to OEMs in Q4 2006, to start the commercialization process. This provides an opportunity for OEMs and Microsoft to market and sell MSFP devices for the majority of the 2006 calendar year, including the Holiday season.

Photon Wave: Photon is a very strategic release for Microsoft. The vision of a unified platform, modular architecture, and a customizable user interface are all focused on enabling our OEMs to deliver a wider range of differentiated products to meet the unique needs of target market segments. As we considered the scope of the Photon release, the Crossbow schedule and goal of the long term roadmap, it was clear that adjusting the Photon schedule was also necessary. We, therefore, plan to make Photon available to OEMs in Q4 2007, to start the commercialization process. This adjustment should help enable OEMs to ship Crossbow devices throughout 2007 and provide necessary time to commercialize Photon devices for a 2008 release. This adjustment should also help enable us to base Photon on the next major release of Windowsâ CE (“Yamazaki”). “Yamazaki” will provide an improved kernel, a new security model, and a number of other enhanced features.

 Windows_Mobile_Release_Map.bmp ( 751.15K ) Number of downloads: 1542

[LocutusBorgMan]

I'm glad this info is finally getting around as the cats been out of the bag for almost a week now. The Undude, thanks for posting that presentation slide. I tried to get a screenshot from my Axim with the powerpoint presentation, but never could get it to switch out of Pocket Informant back to Powerpoint before the 5 seconds was up.

[The Undude]

I'm glad this info is finally getting around as the cats been out of the bag for almost a week now. The Undude, thanks for posting that presentation slide. I tried to get a screenshot from my Axim with the powerpoint presentation, but never could get it to switch out of Pocket Informant back to Powerpoint before the 5 seconds was up.

Thank you for being a part of what has helped release this cat from that bag!

[xirito]

The Future of Windows Mobile: Crossbow (H1, 2007) and Photon (H1, 2008)
We all know that eventually Windows Mobile 5.0 will be updated or upgraded. But when? And with what changes? An informant has tipped Brighthand to a cached Google webpage with the contents of a slide presentation given during a recent Microsoft "Tech Days" event in Switzerland a few weeks ago.

It seems an update, or Second Edition, to Windows Mobile 5.0 is in the works. Delivery to manufacturers is targeted for Q4, 2006 and a target Q1/Q2 2007 Marketing Launch date is mentioned. Assuming manufacturers like HTC et. al. get this WM 5.0 Second Edition in Q4 2006, a Q2 2007 marketing date seems a little aggressive. Manufacturers will want to ensure their hardware is optimized for 5.0 SE, carrier-specific modifications will be added and all sorts of stability testing from wireless carriers will be needed, and finally wireless carriers will need merchandise in stock.

“Crossbow” (Q4 ‘06)
- Great mobile messaging
- Advanced Business and Enterprise propositions
- Strengthened phone experience
- Faster, easier application development and distribution
- Q1/Q2 ‘07 Marketing Launch

The next full rev of Windows Mobile is code-named "Photon." Release to manufacturers is slated for Q4 2007 and general availability targeted for the first half of 2008. Again, this may seem a little optimistic - and as a full revision, I'd imagine deeper testing will be required than for an incremental update. Brighthand mention, "Photon is planned to have a customizable user interface, and "unified" platform, presumably referring to the Smartphone and Pocket PC branches of the current OS" -- though we have heard this is Microsoft's intent, nowhere is this mentioned in the Google cache.

“Photon” (Q4 ‘07)
- New, Flexible Shell
- Modular Containers
- “Yamazaki” CE kernel
- Q1/Q2 ’08 Marketing Launch

So, what does all this mean? Well, the whole Windows Mobile ecosystem will be effected. For one thing we can expect manufacturers will want to make sure they ship planned Windows Mobile 5.0 devices into the market as soon as possible. Also, wireless carriers will want to sell the device-stock they have before the newer version. Consumers can expect some good "close-out" deals on 5.0 devices. And application developers will need to plan upgrade paths. All this seems like a long way off now, but soon enough, the future will be now.

Source: Google cache of a Microsoft presentation, via Brighthand

NOTE: FYI - The "white-space" in the google-cache page is filled with white text.

UPDATE: You can see the original PowerPoint presentation, here -- or just click on "comment" to see the Windows Mobile Release Roadmap slide.

the links are dead, and if ill try to see the picture i get:
The error returned was:
Sorry, but you do not have permission to use this feature. If you are not logged in, you may do so using the form below if available.

But i am logged in...
Anyway to reup that presentation cq picture?