Samsung Omnia II coming to Austria in September, WinMo 6.5 included

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 2:57AM

Samsung's already committed to offering Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrades to Omnia IIs released with 6.1, but just how necessary is that commitment going to end up being in practice? Microsoft's Austrian outpost has announced that the Korean company's latest WinMo superphone will be launching in the domestic market in September with 6.5 already installed -- suggesting that at least some of these handsets in other markets around the world could be coming out of the gate in the same configuration. It also raises new questions about the market launch for 6.5 on a broader scale; we've always known it'd be hitting toward the end of 2009, but we've never gotten an exact date out of anyone for retail availability -- presumably because it has as much to do with manufacturer partners' plans as it does Microsoft's. We're not saying the Austrian Omnia II will be the first WinMo 6.5 retail device anywhere, but at this point, it's looking likely that this'll be in the first wave.

[Via WMExperts, TamsPPC, and wmpoweruser, thanks Daniel M.]

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

Tags: austria, i8000, omnia ii, OmniaIi, samsung, windows mobile, windows mobile 6.5, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.5, winmo, winmo6.5, wm6.5

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Tam Hanna @ Jul 2nd 2009 3:16AM

Hi,
I wonder why you did not link to TamsPPC (http://tamsppc.tamoggemon.com/2009/07/01/samsung-omnia-ii-to-hit-austrias-a1-in-september/), the original source.

Weird...

All the best
Tam Hanna

Neutral

glenskey @ Jul 2nd 2009 3:22AM

what are you trying to say hanna?

Neutral

Chris Ziegler @ Jul 2nd 2009 3:25AM

Dang, sorry about that, Tam -- totally missed your link in the WMExperts piece! I'm adding it now.

Neutral

Haro! @ Jul 2nd 2009 3:28AM

The first Omnia had lots of potential, hopefully with WinMo 6.5 it'll be much better. WinMo needs better hardware to realize its potential. Coupled with the update to 6.5 this thing could be really good.

Neutral

BlackJack @ Jul 2nd 2009 4:52AM

Are you kidding? WinMo sucks and more and more WinMo phone makers are moving to Android in order to compete with iPhone and BlackBerry. Samsung makes good phone. It is the OS that sucks!

Neutral

glenskey @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:40AM

nice one! :') i'll remember that,
"winmo potential", pure comedic genius!

Neutral

Paul @ Jul 2nd 2009 7:40AM

Windows mobile interface may suck but Samsung has finally done a fantastic job in hiding Windows almost completely (finally) but windows mobile is the number 1 OS because of all the programmers (e.g. xda) in the world, Win Mobile is a true open source os.

Neutral