On Sunday a seemingly unknown site, named Bright Side Of News, came out stating that Windows Mobile 7 was "definitely delayed to 2011".
If the original headline made you jump then join the club. It"s sad that we"re even covering this but when big named sites like PC World begin reporting this belief as "news" and Twitter spreads it as news then it"s time to put some facts straight. BSN doesn"t name any sources or why it believes Windows Mobile 7 is "definitely delayed to 2011". Instead it claims "We spoke with representatives from Microsoft, Lenovo, Qualcomm, TI, Nokia, nVidia, HTC and many more". The main two out of that bunch that would know if Windows Mobile 7 was delayed would be Microsoft and HTC and both aren"t speaking about Windows Mobile 7.
At the consumer electronics show last week Neowin spoke to representatives from LG who confirmed they would be shipping devices with Windows Mobile 7 "this year". Does that sound like 2011 to you? In December 2009 Microsoft UK head of mobility Phil Moore confirmed that we won"t be seeing Windows Mobile 7 phones on the market until late 2010.
Microsoft officials refuse to comment on Windows Mobile 7 in most cases but Robbie Bach, Entertainment and Devices Division, held an analysts call at CES last week and confirmed that the company will share details of Windows Mobile 7 next month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. "I"ve seen it and played with it," Bach said. He also believes that Windows Mobile 7 will "set the bar forward not in (just) an evolutionary way." From what we are hearing from insiders the company is ready to show off Windows Mobile 7 and will do so at Mobile World Congress. Microsoft"s annual conference, Mix 2010 in March, will be the time for company officials to unveil developer features. We questioned Toshiba, Samsung and LG about their Windows Mobile 6.5.3 and 7 plans but all refused to answer the future of Windows Mobile in depth, presumably due to non-disclosure agreements with Microsoft. All of this evidence does not point to devices showing up until after February 2011.
The truth is, Windows Mobile 7 will be discussed at Mobile World Congress next month and Neowin will be there live to keep you up to date. From what we"ve seen, it will blow you away. So as always, stay tuned.