No Windows Mobile 6.5 on May 11
link: original article - section: windows
Over the weekend, several blogs reported that Windows Mobile 6.5 would release on May 11. That's simply not true.
Today, a company spokesperson confirmed that Microsoft doesn't plan to launch the next version of the software during next month's TechEd. But you'd think otherwise from misinformation spreading out across the InterWebs. I want to correct the record and also explain why Microsoft Watch didn't make the same mistake as many other sites.
On Friday and Saturday, several sites reported the May 11 launch based on a Windows Mobile blog post about a Microsoft TechEd conference session. I started to write something myself, stating the same date. But in reading the Microsoft blog post I didn't come away with the same interpretation as other bloggers or journalists—that Windows Mobile 6.5 would launch May 11. The post read:
Stephanie Ferguson, GM of Business Experiences at Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business, is going to deliver the kick off presentation of Windows Mobile 6.5 on Monday, May 11th at 1:00PM - 2:15PM. This Tech Ed 2009 session focuses on Windows Mobile 6.5 and is targeted at both IT Professionals and Developers, with a cool demo and an outline of great stuff to come. Be sure to join us as we are giving away 5 Samsung Blackjack II's!
I interpreted "kick-off presentation" to mean first one. Nothing more. Launch date? Based on what? I wasn't going to jump to a May 11 date, certainly without trying to confirm it with Microsoft, just because other sites reported it.
I never assume that just because everyone else is reporting something that it's true. For example, I see the problem on a monthly basis with Net Applications usage share data. Repeatedly, numerous blogs and news sites state the data as representing market share; it is not. But some bloggers and journalists write that Internet Explorer has lost X amount of market share based on the data, which is plain, pure and simply wrong. Or perhaps that Apple's Safari has made big share gains. The data collected by Net Apps cannot show market share because browsers are not a finite market. Market share is the measure of X number of widgets shipped, sold or used over Y time period. In addition to this problem with methodology, people use multiple browsers, which negates any market share claims. But once one site writes about market share, many more follow.
