Windows Mobile 6.5.3 spices up Sony Ericsson Aspen

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 2 Feb 2010 at 10:36

Sony Ericsson has unveiled Aspen, the first smartphone to feature the finger-friendly Windows Mobile 6.5.3.

While the designation suggests a minor upgrade, the release actually brings a number of notable improvements to the poorly received Windows Mobile 6.5.

Among the biggest change is that Microsoft has finally removed the need to retreat to the stylus when faced with a drop-down menu, or the add new contact screen. The company has now replaced these menus with touch tabs at the top of the screen, potentially addressing one of the biggest bugbears people had with the OS.

This is complemented by support for capacitive touchscreens and multitouch gestures. The company is also touting faster page load times when using the browser, and has tweaked the touch navigation to make it more responsive when panning, zooming, or rotating the page.

While the latest release of Windows Mobile is undoubtedly the biggest draw for the Sony Ericsson Aspen, the phone also features a QWERTY keyboard, 2.4in touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, assisted GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a microSD expansion.

The phone will be released in the second quarter of the year, with pricing yet to be decided.

The release of Windows Mobile 6.5.3 comes ahead of Mobile World Congress, at which Microsoft is widely expected to preview Windows Mobile 7 - the company's attempt to hit back at the iPhone and Android.