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Many moons ago, I wrote that Microsoft needs a Mobile Manhattan Project—that the company must invest in the cell phone market the kind of energy, determination, software development and partnerships that won the browser wars against Netscape.

Instead, Microsoft's mobile strategy looks like its failed search struggle with Google. The company moves at glacial speeds, while competitors Apple and Google, both mobile upstarts, make huge strides. Maybe a little global warming, like under its fat, complacent butt, is what Microsoft needs to break the ice shelf and get that glacial ice free and flowing with the currents. Yeah, I badly mixed metaphors. So slap me.

Today's Windows Mobile announcements don't go far enough and they aren't coming soon enough—not if Microsoft ever wants to be a leader, even just a follower, in the mobile market.

It's a big market. According to Wireless Intelligence, there are now 4 billion mobile connections, with the number expected to reach 6 billion within four years. The majority of these connections come from cell phones, but other devices, like notebooks and netbooks, also contribute to the number. The number of mobile data connections is about 100 million and rapidly rising, particularly as more cell phones are sold into emerging markets.

There are hints in some of today's announcements of the feisty Microsoft that bested Netscape a decade ago. There's more bite than bark in the Windows Mobile distribution deal with LG. The new mobile advertising agreements are promising, too. But the software and services announcements are catchup at best, and they're not ready for market.

Windows Mobile 6.5. I'm not loving the new user interface, as shown in the official and previously leaked screenshots. OK, the honeycomb approach has potential—it certainly beats the UI's old skin—but I reserve any excitement, or none, until testing.