Microsoft to deliver Windows Mobile 6.5 in mid-2009

Microsoft is expected to start delivering its Windows Mobile 6.5 OS to handset makers in mid-2009 following the expected debut of the new mobile OS in the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, according to sources at Taiwan handset makers via DigiTimes.

A number of Windows Mobile 6.5-based mobile devices are expected to hit the market in the third quarter of 2009, but most handset makers will likely to launch their Windows Mobile 6.5 handsets in the fourth quarter to get a jump on the year-end shopping season, according to the article.

As CEO Steve Ballmer hinted in his CES keynote, Microsoft is expected to cooperate with multiple device makers for the development of diversified Windows Mobile 6.5 products instead of focusing on a single model as Apple's iPhone or Google's Android-based G1 phone (or, in the case of the latest batch of rumors, Palm's Pre).