The first phones with the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system will be released Oct. 6. Microsoft said the new devices will feature improved interfaces, better browsing, and access to such services as Windows Marketplace for Mobile and Microsoft My Phone.

The worldwide rollout will include new hardware as well as existing models. In North America, new Windows Mobile phones will be released by wireless operators AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless, and from manufacturers HP, HTC, LG Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba.

Marketplace, My Phone

Microsoft said the new Internet Explorer Mobile browser has been redesigned and carries a new engine as well as built-in support for Adobe Flash Lite. The redesign will make it easier to do such things as check in for a flight, pay bills, or find directions, according to the software giant.

Two new mobile services will be launched. Windows Marketplace for Mobile will provide a centralized location for finding and downloading “approved and certified” applications. Although Microsoft has said it has more than 20,000 applications for Windows Mobile devices, many users may not have noticed, because the apps have been scattered across a variety of outlets. This follows the trend of mobile platforms to create their own App Store, following the highly successful model of Apple’s iPhone.

And the free My Phone service lets users back up their phone-based content to the Web automatically, so photos, music, contacts or text messages can be managed either from a phone or a PC. If a phone is lost, the idea is that a user’s PC can be used to manage reloading the lost files onto a new phone.

Users of Windows Mobile phones can also customize their interface with designer themes, widgets or their own photo.

‘Mostly a Rebranding‘

Sean Ryan, an analyst with industry research firm IDC, said this launch of new Windows Mobile devices is “mostly a rebranding,” as the company tries to simplify its brand messaging.

The messaging has not been as coordinated for Windows Mobile as for some other platforms, he said, noting that most major mobile OSes are identified with a given manufacturer’s devices. Ryan noted that Symbian is strongly identified with Nokia, and BlackBerry, Palm, and the iPhone have their own.

He pointed out that Android, one of the newest OSes, is going to face this same challenge. Many manufacturers could blur the branding of the OS, although Android-based phones are often being sold as Google-branded.

Microsoft is now attempting to say to the customer “this is a Windows Mobile phone,” he said, by “moving their identity downstream” to the end user.

In terms of the phones themselves, Ryan said that, while he hasn’t seen many of the phones yet, the devices appear to offer only an “incremental” step forward in terms of features and capabilities.

Via Yahoo