Was Windows Mobile pretty business focused the past years, during a speech to students in Redmond last week, Robbie Bach - President of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division - unveiled further details how to make the recently announced Windows Mobile 6.5 and next year's expected launch of Windows Mobile 7 more consumer friendly. According to Bach, the next two generations of Windows Mobile (6.5 and 7) will have improvements to the user experience, including a greater emphasis on touch controls, "dramatically better" mobile Web browsing, expanded music, video and other consumer-oriented capabilities as well as connections to Web 2.0 services such as Facebook and Twitter.

"You're going to see from us over the next 24 months, probably more innovation than you've seen in the last, I'd say, three or four years in the Windows Mobile space," Bach said.

"What happens in the next three years is what's going to define the next 10," said Scott Rockfeld, Director of Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business. "And we're truly scratching the surface on what's possible these days."

First Windows Mobile 6.5 Windows Phones were announced two weeks ago at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with an expected release date in summer.

Cheers ~Arne