With automatic syncing and backup, users can count on their contacts, appointments, text messages and other information being kept up to date and easily restored should they lose or upgrade their phone. Consumers also will be able to automatically upload photos and video from their Windows phone directly to the My Phone service. An My phone client software update is also expected in the next few weeks according to the development team.

According to live report from SlashGear

One of the areas of significant change is the Windows lock screen, which now has indicators for missed calls, messages and IMs, calendar entries and the time, together with the usual battery and signal strength icons.  The new Windows Phone homescreen shows – via small numbers next to each menu option – how many missed calls, voicemails and new emails there are, as well as access to photos and web favorites.

There’s also provision for a new hardware Start button, which all upcoming Windows Phones will have, that calls up the new honeycomb launcher.  Microsoft have added extra gesture support, including paging between inboxes with a horizontal swipe, and scrolling between photos on the launcher homescreen.  There’s also been some work in better integrating different communication methods – such as IM, SMS, and voice-chatting on Windows Live Messenger – into single panes, so you can be notified of missed calls from contacts in the threaded conversations on Windows Phones.

The free My Phone service will enable people to access, manage and back up their personal information on their device to a password-protected Web-based service. With automatic syncing and backup, users can count on their contacts, appointments, text messages and other information being kept up to date and easily restored should they lose or upgrade their phone. Consumers also will be able to automatically upload photos and video from their Windows phone directly to the My Phone service. The My Phone service is currently available in a limited invitation-only beta.

The new operating system features Windows Marketplace for Mobile, a rich and integrated marketplace for searching, browsing and purchasing mobile applications from Windows phones or from a PC by using a Windows Live ID. The Windows Mobile 6.5 are expected to be available in the second half of 2009.

Check out few Windows Mobile 6.5 screenshots below:

The Windows Media player for Windows Mobile has got a new design in this build. Its interface has been done with finger friendly design and easy access. The screenshot is also showing an application, Microsoft Outlook Live, which could be a software to access the Microsoft Exchange email server.

Read more about Windows Mobile 6.5 here

[via wmexperts]

The mobile service provides a mobile backup service, allows over-the-air sync and keep a copy of your mobile devices data (e.g., contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, text messages, photos, video, etc) on its website. All data can be either retrieved from the mobile devices directly, or through the My Phone web protal. Microsoft plans to offer 200MB of disk space for each accounts, a paid subscription service with more storage space might be announced soon this year after the initial launch.

According to the official site,

More information about Microsoft® My Phone
Back up phone information to a password-protected web site

Microsoft My Phone syncs information on your mobile phone to a storage space on a web site hosted by Microsoft. If your phone is lost or stolen, or if you upgrade to a new phone, you can easily restore the contacts, calendar appointments, photos, and other information that you stored on My Phone to a compatible new or replacement phone. Most phones that run the Windows Mobile 6 operating system are compatible with My Phone service.

Access and update your contacts and appointments on the web

Microsoft My Phone enables you to view and manage phone information by using a web browser. In your web account, you can add, edit, and delete contacts and calendar appointments, and the changes will appear on your phone the next time that you sync.

Share photos with friends and family

Microsoft My Phone makes it easy to view photos on your computer that were taken with your camera phone. From your web account, you can save photos to your computer or can e-mail them to family and friends.

How much does the Microsoft My Phone service cost?
Microsoft does not charge a fee for the My Phone service at this time. But the data plan you have with your mobile operator may require you to pay data-transfer charges when you use the service. If you are unsure of your plan coverage, please contact your mobile operator.

What information can I back up on Microsoft My Phone?
The first time that you run the My Phone application on your mobile phone, you will be asked to accept or change the recommended settings. Recommended settings will synchronize contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, photos, videos, text messages, music, and documents between your phone and your My Phone web account. However:
If you have an active connection with Microsoft Exchange server (which is frequently used for corporate e-mail), My Phone will not synchronize your contacts, calendar appointments, or tasks.
If you have Windows Live installed on your phone, it will synchronize your Windows Live contacts with the Windows Live web site, and My Phone will synchronize your other contacts to your account on the My Phone web site.
If you have an external memory card and selected My Phone’s recommended settings, information on the external memory card will not be synchronized.
If you store contacts on the SIM card provided by your mobile operator, My Phone will not synchronize these contacts.
If you have any documents stored outside the My Documents folder on your phone, My Phone will not synchronize these documents.

How much data can I back up?
Your Microsoft My Phone account gives you 200 MB of free storage on the Microsoft My Phone web site. If a synchronization would result in exceeding this limit, you will receive an error message on your phone and your account on the My Phone web site will only include information received prior to reaching this limit. Any files in excess of this limit will not be saved.

Does Microsoft My Phone back up my phone information automatically?
If you accept the recommended settings, Microsoft My Phone will automatically synchronize information between your mobile phone and your Microsoft My Phone web account once per day between 11:00 P.M. and 5:00 A.M., except when your phone cannot connect to your default data network – for example, when your phone is turned off, out of range, or roaming. You can also back up your data manually at any time by selecting Sync in the Microsoft My Phone application on your phone.

Will Microsoft My Phone work on my mobile phone?
Currently, Microsoft My Phone works only on phones that run the Windows Mobile 6+ operating system. This includes phones from many different manufacturers and mobile operators. To check which version of Windows Mobile your phone is using, click Start > Settings > About on your phone.

What if I’ve already lost my mobile phone?
If you lost your mobile phone before you began using the Microsoft My Phone service (for instance, if you installed the software but did not perform a sync operation), you cannot use Microsoft My Phone to restore the information that you lost. But if you used My Phone on your old mobile phone, download and install Microsoft My Phone on your new mobile phone and sign in to the Microsoft My Phone application on your phone using the same Windows Live ID that you previously used. Then, by synchronizing manually or waiting for the next automatic synchronization

For the SkyBox 1.0, the beta version will be available in mid-February. It will be free and provide backup / restore service for users’ windows mobile devices. The next version 1.5 will add a subscription based SkyBox premium service, which might also available for non-Windows Mobile smartphones.

The SkyBox 2.0 will eventually offer more online integration between your mobile devices and web management. Not only you can sync your phone data online, you can also manage your phone from a website. Simple task like setting ringtones, wallpaper can be done with your computer directly. The best things is the SkyBox is integrated with SkyMarket, you can buy a mobile application, do a sync on your smartphone wirelessly to receive the application from SkyBox.

Official detail should be available from Microsoft later this month at Mobile World Congress.

The mobile Internet Explorer has also revamped with a useful bottom bar to go backward, access bookmark, zooming and others. While the screenshots is not showing any excitement or innovation, we would at least hope to see a major improvement in the overall system responsive and stability.

Other than the new OS which might be announced next month at Mobile World Congress 2009, Microsoft is said to be announcing their new online application store for Windows Mobile called SkyMarket, together with the new SkyBox and SkyLine mobile services.

The new SkyBox is similar to Apple iPhone’s MobileMe service. It will sync with your windows mobile phones over the air so that a copy of your phone data, photos or other files can be accessed online. The SkyLine is a service specially for Microsoft Exchange user for better integration on the smartphone.

Check out a possible leaked Windows Mobile 6.5 screenshot below