Microsoft's SkyBox site live, branded My Phone?

by Chris Ziegler posted Feb 6th 2009 at 7:03AM

It appears that Microsoft may have its SkyBox beta sign-up site up and running in preparation for a Mobile World Congress unveiling -- except that it's not called SkyBox, it's called "My Phone" (even though the domain is getskybox.com -- go figure). The phone-to-cloud syncing service promises to make transferring contacts, appointments, tasks, photos, videos, music, text messages, and documents between Windows Mobile 6 (and above) phones a breeze, and even better, the service is free "at this time." If the details are accurate here, we can expect 200MB of online storage courtesy of your friends at Microsoft, but don't bother trying to sign up -- it craps out as soon as you try. Soon, friends, soon.

[Thanks, Matt B.]

Filed under: Software, Windows Mobile

Tags: microsoft, my phone, MyPhone, skybox, windows mobile, WindowsMobile, winmo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

ZSX @ Feb 6th 2009 7:38AM

This is amazing news. I just wonder whether it is complementary to Live Mesh and Windows Live, or whether it will supplant either or both. As it is Live Mesh provides file sync, Windows Live provides OTA contact sync and push-mail, but calendaring and tasks are still not catered to. "My Phone" needs to manage all of the above to be useful.

Neutral

ZSX @ Feb 6th 2009 7:40AM

Hmmm. Firefox is telling me this site has an invalid server certificate. I hope it is not some elaborate ploy!

Highly Ranked

ZSX @ Feb 6th 2009 7:42AM

From the dodgy website, so you don't have to override the invalid certificate!

More information about Microsoft® My Phone

* Back up phone information to a password-protected web site Microsoft My Phone syncs information on your mobile phone to a storage space on a web site hosted by Microsoft. If your phone is lost or stolen, or if you upgrade to a new phone, you can easily restore the contacts, calendar appointments, photos, and other information that you stored on My Phone to a compatible new or replacement phone. Most phones that run the Windows Mobile 6 operating system are compatible with My Phone service.

* Access and update your contacts and appointments on the web Microsoft My Phone enables you to view and manage phone information by using a web browser. In your web account, you can add, edit, and delete contacts and calendar appointments, and the changes will appear on your phone the next time that you sync.

* Share photos with friends and family Microsoft My Phone makes it easy to view photos on your computer that were taken with your camera phone. From your web account, you can save photos to your computer or can e-mail them to family and friends.

* How much does the Microsoft My Phone service cost? Microsoft does not charge a fee for the My Phone service at this time. But the data plan you have with your mobile operator may require you to pay data-transfer charges when you use the service. If you are unsure of your plan coverage, please contact your mobile operator.

* How do I create a Microsoft My Phone account? You can download the Microsoft My Phone application by browsing to http://www.getskybox.com/install on your mobile phone. When you browse to this site from select countries, you will be asked for your phone number to receive a text message which will contain the link for downloading the application. The first time that you run the Microsoft My Phone application on your phone after downloading it, you will be asked to sign in using your Windows Live™ ID (or sign up for a Windows Live ID if you do not already have one).

* What information can I back up on Microsoft My Phone? The first time that you run the My Phone application on your mobile phone, you will be asked to accept or change the recommended settings. Recommended settings will synchronize contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, photos, videos, text messages, music, and documents between your phone and your My Phone web account. However:

o If you have an active connection with Microsoft Exchange server (which is frequently used for corporate e-mail), My Phone will not synchronize your contacts, calendar appointments, or tasks.

o If you have Windows Live installed on your phone, it will synchronize your Windows Live contacts with the Windows Live web site, and My Phone will synchronize your other contacts to your account on the My Phone web site.

o If you have an external memory card and selected My Phone's recommended settings, information on the external memory card will not be synchronized.

o If you store contacts on the SIM card provided by your mobile operator, My Phone will not synchronize these contacts.

o If you have any documents stored outside the My Documents folder on your phone, My Phone will not synchronize these documents.

* How much data can I back up? Your Microsoft My Phone account gives you 200 MB of free storage on the Microsoft My Phone web site. If a synchronization would result in exceeding this limit, you will receive an error message on your phone and your account on the My Phone web site will only include information received prior to reaching this limit. Any files in excess of this limit will not be saved.

* Does Microsoft My Phone back up my phone information automatically? If you accept the recommended settings, Microsoft My Phone will automatically synchronize information between your mobile phone and your Microsoft My Phone web account once per day between 11:00 P.M. and 5:00 A.M., except when your phone cannot connect to your default data network - for example, when your phone is turned off, out of range, or roaming. You can also back up your data manually at any time by selecting Sync in the Microsoft My Phone application on your phone.

* Will Microsoft My Phone work on my mobile phone? Currently, Microsoft My Phone works only on phones that run the Windows Mobile 6+ operating system. This includes phones from many different manufacturers and mobile operators. To check which version of Windows Mobile your phone is using, click Start > Settings > About on your phone.

* What if I've already lost my mobile phone? If you lost your mobile phone before you began using the Microsoft My Phone service (for instance, if you installed the software but did not perform a sync operation), you cannot use Microsoft My Phone to restore the information that you lost. But if you used My Phone on your old mobile phone, download and install Microsoft My Phone on your new mobile phone (as described in How do I create a Microsoft My Phone account?) and sign in to the Microsoft My Phone application on your phone using the same Windows Live ID that you previously used. Then, by synchronizing manually or waiting for the next auto

Neutral

Abdel @ Feb 6th 2009 8:33AM

Hmmmmmm! Interesting way to go let's have faith in Windows Mobile.

Neutral

Josh G @ Feb 6th 2009 8:55AM

It's dodgy it seems:

http://www.whois.net/whois_new.cgi?d=getskybox&tld=com

Neutral

Chris B. @ Feb 6th 2009 12:24PM

Huh. That domain address puts the organization at the Crossroads Bellevue (WA) Shopping Center. Huh.

Highly Ranked

Lazy @ Feb 6th 2009 9:06AM

Cool, MyPhone, just like on the Simpsons....Mapple, Steve Mobbs, MyCubes, MyPods

Neutral

Abdel @ Feb 6th 2009 9:19AM

Funny the part where Krusty comes with his mypod!

Neutral

Skrying @ Feb 6th 2009 9:19AM

I really wish Microsoft would just bundle all of their online storage and sync services together. Actually this goes towards Google to, but they've been better about it lately. Companies need to start integrating all of their applications and services together in order to create a better user experience. We've reached a point in technology and software where these companies can provide a wealth of services from the same point, where in the past you had to rely on several smaller companies providing their own unique solutions that did the job but was very messy. I'm personally tired of the mess, I think many people are. In fact, I believe this is the exact reason the iPhone is so popular and really why Apple has seen success. They're the only ones who really seem to want to push this idea of tightly integrated services... or maybe they're the only ones that can. Sometimes the EU really gets me here with how they push Microsoft to un-bundle and de-integrate, which in many ways is far worse for your average Joe.

Neutral

You need an internal test Live account to get this to work. Look at the cert it's actually signed for https://myphone-wlt.microsoft.com try that and you wont get the cert issue, but the login will redirect you to https://login.live-int.com

Wait up. It will come ....

Neutral