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Microsoft won't unveil its own smartphone at Mobile World Congress, but it has outlined more details of its roadmaps for Windows Mobile 7 and SkyBox, its challenger to Apple's MobileMe.

It is now clear that the next major release of Windows Mobile will not be available until 2010, putting the OS in a vulnerable position against Android as it leaves phonemakers having to make do with the interim version, 6.5, for another year - a dilemma highlighted by Motorola, which has reassigned most of its R&D resource to Android until release 7 appears. This also means that online services like SkyBox, the heart of Microsoft's revamped assault on the mobile web market, will also have to live with the limitations of the 6.5 'makeover'.

SkyBox is an important test of how well Microsoft can deliver, against Google, Apple and the others, in the integrated mobile web services space. According to ZDnet, SkyBox will be free at launch in March, and a paid-for version will follow in summer. Initial versions will support online synchronization of contacts and calendar, and the second release will integrate device management, so that content such as ringtones and music files can be managed through a web portal. Management from a PC has proved popular on the iPhone, but may be hard to achieve via the web until Windows Mobile 7 comes along.

But there will be no Microsoft branded phone to support SkyBox, despite persistent rumors. Scott Rockfeld, director of Windows Mobile, denied any plans, after analysts at Broadpoint AmTech published a research note, reviving speculation that a device would debut in Barcelona. "Our core focus has been and will continue to be providing software plus services and working with our partners to deliver great phones," Rockfeld said.

It seems likely that repeated speculation has been driven by Microsoft's avowed increased involvement with ODMs to improve the Windows Mobile phone experience. The software giant recently said it would reduce the number of Windows phone partners, and focus on quality not quantity. It may well be producing reference platforms for its partners, with optimization for Windows - hence all the stories of a design based on processors from Qualcomm and Nvidia, both companies that have been working closely with Microsoft recently. But that is still a long step from a commercial phone, especially after the poor experience of the Zune media player.

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