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First Windows Mobile 6.5 beta ROM leaks

Tom Warren
21 January 2009 - 15:09
25 Comments
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Wmpoweruser is reporting that the first Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM has leaked and is available for Blue Angel (O2 XDA IIs, Qtek 9090, T-Mobile MDA III) devices.

The ROM has leaked at XDA-developers, an enthusiast forum that regularly builds custom ROMs for Windows Mobile devices. The following 6.5 features are included:

  • MSTOUCH(UPDATE)
  • TouchRecognizer
  • Touch LockScreen
  • IE6[IE Mobile8.12Pro]2009 Only for 6.5
  • CMHome For WM6.5PRO
  • Live For WM6.5
Wmpoweruser states the ROM is "beta and doesn't carry the whole OS, so expect the final product to be a lot different."

We exclusively revealed that Microsoft is set to unveil 6.5 next month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

You can watch a video of 6.5 running below, you can see an improved home screen and a new scrolling feature similar to Apple's iPhone where the screen will bump when you reach the end of the window scroll.

Comments (25)

  1. Silverskull - 21 January 2009 - 15:21

    The home screen! It looks like the Zune! (Well, sorta...)

    Can't say I'm surprised by this, but WinMo 6.5 looks nice... I guess I'll have that to look forward to when I get my new phone.

  2. vetSHoTTa35 - 21 January 2009 - 15:31

    can't wait to see this thing in full action!

  3. ObiWanToby - 21 January 2009 - 15:34

    Are devices like the HTC Touch Pro typically upgradeable?

  4. guruparan - 21 January 2009 - 15:38

    Intelman said,
    Are devices like the HTC Touch Pro typically upgradeable?

    Yes..they will...or else xda developers will do it for sure! :-)

  5. Digitalx - 21 January 2009 - 15:54

    this looks wonderful. it'll be great to see it in action properly on HTC Touch devices, specially the HD and touch pro :). Really looks like the OS we've been waiting for and to desperately move Winmo into line with competitiors in terms of use, presentation etc.

  6. georgevella - 21 January 2009 - 15:57

    nice ... unfortunate that they are not showing any new features (other than cosmetics I mean). Also, I hope they modify more of the OS to be finger friendly. I have noticed that the time and alarm adjustment screen is still the same :S

  7. KeR - 21 January 2009 - 16:18

    2 years too late, it looks like they took some of the better parts from the iPhone UI and added them to WM. My question is why did it take this long, and couldn't they innovate a bit more besides completely ripping the iPhone off?

    I am not trying to start a argument but to say that I am disappointed with WM would be an understatement. The OS has been very stagnant, and at this point and time the lack of progress is showing more than ever before. They are trying to catch up, and God knows they are taking their time.

    I want an OS that doesn't feel sluggish, to the point where I want to throw my phone to the ground. I want an OS that doesn't require me to click an item 3 + times just because it has such a lag that the first 2 times didn't register. I want and OS that doesn't hide a phone feature at least 5 menus deep...but most important of all I don't want an UI that has basically remained the same since 2000.

    I just had to vent.

  8. geekypc - 21 January 2009 - 16:46

    KeR said,
    2 years too late, it looks like they took some of the better parts from the iPhone UI and added them to WM. My question is why did it take this long, and couldn't they innovate a bit more besides completely ripping the iPhone off?

    I am not trying to start a argument but to say that I am disappointed with WM would be an understatement. The OS has been very stagnant, and at this point and time the lack of progress is showing more than ever before. They are trying to catch up, and God knows they are taking their time.

    I want an OS that doesn't feel sluggish, to the point where I want to throw my phone to the ground. I want an OS that doesn't require me to click an item 3 + times just because it has such a lag that the first 2 times didn't register. I want and OS that doesn't hide a phone feature at least 5 menus deep...but most important of all I don't want an UI that has basically remained the same since 2000.

    I just had to vent.


    Yea, because revolutionary means having to buy all your software filtered through an apple store, unless you want to break the law and hack your device.

    Epic fail.

  9. dhan - 21 January 2009 - 16:50

    I use an iPhone and I didn't see anything remotely similar to its UI. Unless you meant touch which iPhone/Apple did not event.

  10. KeR - 21 January 2009 - 16:52

    geekypc said,
    Yea, because revolutionary means having to buy all your software filtered through an apple store, unless you want to break the law and hack your device.

    Epic fail.


    What does that have to do with innovation? Don't you think one of the reasons as to why WM is slow is due to low quality software available for the OS? I have no problem with Apple having quality control over the Apps that are 3rd party ones.

  11. geekypc - 21 January 2009 - 17:09

    KeR said,


    What does that have to do with innovation? Don't you think one of the reasons as to why WM is slow is due to low quality software available for the OS? I have no problem with Apple having quality control over the Apps that are 3rd party ones.

    No actually it's do to the fact that it has twice the processor and memory of every other phone, and is only affordable by commiting to a ****ty company with a ****ty rate. I pay half that for unlimited data on my windows mobile phone.

  12. Digitalx - 21 January 2009 - 17:29

    geekypc said,

    No actually it's do to the fact that it has twice the processor and memory of every other phone, and is only affordable by commiting to a ****ty company with a ****ty rate. I pay half that for unlimited data on my windows mobile phone.

    Hey, atleast winmo can run more then one application at once and they can communicate between each other better

  13. geekypc - 21 January 2009 - 17:50

    Digix said,

    Hey, atleast winmo can run more then one application at once and they can communicate between each other better ;)

    iphone has an 800 mhz processor and can't manage to do that..hmm..but OMG it's an apple! YAY! fail.

  14. Nightkrawler - 21 January 2009 - 18:05

    geekypc said,
    iphone has an 800 mhz processor and can't manage to do that..hmm..but OMG it's an apple! YAY! fail.

    the iPhone has a 620 MHz ARM 1176 underclocked to 412 MHz, and has 128MB RAM. The newer iPod Touch is clocked at 532 MHz.
    I have a dell axim x50v with similar specs (624MHz ARM) but its still way slower but well you cant compare them that easy.

  15. .Cameron. - 21 January 2009 - 22:06

    KeR said,
    I want an OS that doesn't feel sluggish, to the point where I want to throw my phone to the ground. I want an OS that doesn't require me to click an item 3 + times just because it has such a lag that the first 2 times didn't register.

    It doesn't take much to beat Safari locking up, rendering the device completely unresponsive until it depletes the entire battery. The iPhone is much more frustrating than you're giving it credit for, taking into account its stubborn accelerometer, frequent crashes, and inability to securely back up application data (the pathetic backup utility in iTunes is a joke, I can't upgrade firmware without losing data, partly because iTunes is incapable of downloading the IPSW file, which I end up having to do manually).

  16. panzaman - 21 January 2009 - 16:19

    to be honest...I wouldn't expect much, this is just a version 6.5 not a major revision, so expect just light functional/aesthetic changes, you can see from the video as the scroll still isn't perfect, unfortunately even if the whole OS has been made "finger" friendly you still have the hundreds of third party apps that have been designed with Windows Mobile Stylus approach in mind.

    Microsoft has to start fro scratch on this like Palm did with their webOS. Just forget about back compatibility and deisgn a fluid interface like the iPhone OS X or the Palm webOS.

  17. roadwarrior - 21 January 2009 - 16:29

    Keep in mind that this video shows it running on what is now an ancient model of phone, which would account for the sluggish scrolling.

  18. ZombieFly - 21 January 2009 - 16:23

    wow. that looks truly awful. they've added scrolling to the same tired interface which pre-dates touch screen technology.

    I've had winmo phones for many years. Currently I feel left out in the cold when all those around me are waving their iPhones in my face. If I get out my HTC brick and start prodding at the screen with a stylus, I suddenly realise just how far behind winmo is. To be honest i've managed to achieve better myself with SPB Mobile shell on my WM6 Hermes.

    roll on the G2

  19. Digitalx - 21 January 2009 - 19:13

    ZombieFly said,
    wow. that looks truly awful. they've added scrolling to the same tired interface which pre-dates touch screen technology.

    I've had winmo phones for many years. Currently I feel left out in the cold when all those around me are waving their iPhones in my face. If I get out my HTC brick and start prodding at the screen with a stylus, I suddenly realise just how far behind winmo is. To be honest i've managed to achieve better myself with SPB Mobile shell on my WM6 Hermes.

    roll on the G2

    The G2 looks to be shaping up to look quite interesting wonder how it'll fare and how android fares too maybe with a UI update by then.

    At end of the day personally for me it's going to be a toss up between Touch HD with 6.5 or Nokia N97 I think.

  20. LTD - 21 January 2009 - 17:23

    MS is still behind. WinMo 7 will be the one that will actually bring the platform to where the major player(s) are right now. Which might also arrive late. And WinMo 8 is supposed to be the "revolutionary" overhaul, which currently has no release date. And by then, everyone else will have had forever to make advances.

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