Neither officially announced nor introduced, during last week's CES in Las Vegas, Microsoft silently showed-off Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Professional for Windows touchscreen smartphones. However, as it turned out and was earlier confirmed by an article on Microsoft's MSDN network, it's neither called "Windows Mobile 6.5 Second Edition" (as I called it) nor is it called anything special but it's just an AKU 3 which means it's simply Windows Mobile 6.5.3. As expected, Windows Mobile 6.5.3 updates the Windows Mobile touch-interface to make it more finger friendly. Additionally it will feature some application updates like threaded E-Mails and pivots but all together it stays Windows Mobile 6.5.

At the CES, Microsoft was showing Windows Mobile 6.5.3 on a Toshiba TG01 and Pharos Traveller. However, neither Toshiba nor Pharos nor any other ODM or carrier have announced Windows Mobile 6.5.3 updates yet but it's expected that it - because it's just an AKU (which nevertheless changes the UI) - will be available for a wide range of devices soon.

Cheers ~ Arne