Update: Microsoft Skybox service appears as My Phone beta, Microsoft issues statement
The Microsoft My Phone site states the following:
Microsoft My Phone syncs information between your mobile phone and the web, enabling you to:
* Back up and restore your phone's information to a password-protected web site * Access and update your contacts and appointments through your web account * Share photos on your phone with family and friends
The site to download the client to your Windows Mobile 6 phone is www.getskybox.com/install, but as you will find it is not yet live. The beta will be free and you will get 200 MB of free storage. If you have an Exchange server setup with your WM device, then My Phone will not synchronize your contacts, calendar, or tasks. It will be able to sync up your photos and share them with family and friends.
This service looks very much like the Dashwire service I have been using for a while now. Dashwire is able to do what this My Phone service advertises, but you can also send and view text messages from your desktop browser that go through your connected phone. Text messages, browser favorites, and call logs are synced while visual voicemail is a provided service.
UPDATE: Microsoft issued the below public statement regarding the My Phone service. BTW, I will be getting access to the beta and hopefully will be able to tell you all about it here soon.
Today, Microsoft’s My Phone Web site went live prior to its scheduled debut. However, we are excited about the new Microsoft My Phone service, which will be available as a limited, invite-only beta. This is a significant milestone for Microsoft as it connects the phone to the PC and Web, making mobility a key pillar for the company’s software+services strategy.
This new Microsoft cloud service syncs critical information (e.g., contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, text messages, photos, video, etc) on a user’s mobile phone to a password protected Web site. Once synchronized, people can easily back-up and restore mobile phone data. My Phone provides an easy to use Web portal where people can access and manage content on the phone, and share that information with others.
My Phone helps people:
- Keep their information backed up if they lose or break their phones.
- Transition information if they switch to new phones.
- Access the same information from their phone or PC.
- Additional information about the service can be found here: www.windowsmobile.com/myphone
We will have more details about My Phone and the limited invite only beta at Mobile World Congress.