If there is one rumor that tends to come and go and agonizes Windows Mobile fans, it’s the one about a Zune phone. Although it’s not officially confirmed, Gizmodo has it on good word that Microsoft will be introducing a Zune phone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year. More specifically, it will be a Windows Mobile 7 phone with Zune features and capabilities, so it’s not a Zune phone, per se.

MWC is a few weeks away – it starts on February 15 – and we’re expecting to see a new version of Windows Mobile, version 7, to be launched with hardware soon to follow. We’ve heard some rumors about potential improvements over the current 6.x codebase, but a developer has told us that this new version is so distant from the old WinMo that it is almost unrecognizable. The worst part? It is completely non-backwards compatible, meaning all WinMo apps are about go extinct.

Boy howdy could I use this thing at CEATEC today. Running on a Windows Mobile handheld, Toshiba has a real-time voice translation demonstration. It worked quite well. How much longer until we get the Star Trek universal translators? Video inside!

Today, HTC officially announced the Touch2 with Windows Mobile 6.5 that includes My Phone and Windows Marketplace for Mobile. HTC was skimp on specs, but we do know that the Touch2 will have TouchFLO and a slew of Google products pre-installed. And the new IE Mobile supports Flash. If you’re into that sort of thing, which we suspect you are. The Touch2 launches on October 6 with availability spreading to the rest of Europe and Asia in Q4.

All the improvements rolling out with Windows Mobile 6.5 (the new UI and set of tools is now “Windows Phone,” though the name Windows Mobile is not completely gone) are coming along quite nicely. This video has many of them being demonstrated — some you’ve seen (My Phone) and some you haven’t (Zune interface, alerts, Windows Marketplace stuff), and I have to say, it all looks quite nice. Internet Explorer actually looked pretty nice, though it was going pretty slowly. Honestly, these phones can run 3D games but panning around a web page brings them to their knees?

Ah, Project Pink, I haven’t heard anything from or about you in quite a long time. But it looks like Redmond made some key changes to its agency roster and McCann picked up the “Pink” account. McCann also handles Windows Mobile.

According to ZDnetter Mary Jo Foley, Pink will be built on top of Windows Mobile 7, which MS plans to release the code for this fall when WinMo 6.5 devices start to flood the market. Foley goes on to say that she’s heard that Motorola will manufacture Pink alongside the Sidekick. Except she fails to realize that Sharp manufactures the Sidekick; Motorola built the Slide that has since been axed from the lineup. So does that mean Danger is in the mix? Maybe. On a side note, it’s pretty funny that the UI for Pink is codenamed “Purple” because Bing’s earliest codename was also Purple or so I’ve heard.

I was about to ignore this email from Microsoft but it seems there is a nugget of wonderful info in there. Remember when we said you could share your apps with four friends – behavior that essentially works on an iPhone and the App Store when you sync to the same iTunes instance? Well you can’t. OK? You can’t. Be quiet.

Microsoft responds below.

Computerworld calls this market changing but I’m not so sure. Here’s the skinny: when you buy an app from the Windows Marketplace for WinMo you can share that app with four people you know. You can also get a full refund within 24 hours of purchase. You can also run the apps on up to five of your own devices if you don’t want to share.

Windows Live may seem like a failure in the eyes of many a TechCrunch reader, but there are a number of services that continue to thrive within the scope of a vast, mainstream audience. Hence it’s worth noting that Microsoft has released a new application for Windows Mobile devices that encompasses a slew of Live services used by dozens of millions of people every day.

The new version (v10.06.0046.0800) of the Windows Live For Windows Mobile client, which is evidently free of charge, includes mobile versions of Windows Live Hotmail (works with both both pull and push sync), Windows Live Messenger (finally!), Windows Live Contacts, Windows Live Spaces, Microsoft Live Search and enhanced photo upload capabilities. The app comes in a Pro version for touch-enabled devices and a Standard version for non-touch phones, and is available in 25 languages.

By all major counts, I should hate this phone. I don’t generally like candybar QWERTY phones, and I don’t like Windows Mobile 6.1. But somehow, HTC has brought both of these things together in a way that I really like.

The hardware itself is rock solid; it’s well balanced and nicely weighted in the hand, and the 12mm profile looks deadly sharp.

Two Microsoft-related announcements coming from social networking giant MySpace today: the portal is adding support for Windows Mobile-run phones to its new mobile application, due this summer, and bringing the Silverlight runtime to its developer program thanks to a jointly developed Open Source kit.

The upcoming application will be created by MySpace in conjunction with Microsoft developers, and optimize the user experience for owners of devices running the latest version of Windows Mobile (6.1, which was introduced in April 2008). The company says it currently has 20 million mobile users and is focused on developing applications for all platforms, including the iPhone, Android-run devices, Blackberry, Palm, Nokia, etc.

Additionally, MySpace is going to include the Silverlight runtime in its Open Platform and offer a jointly built SDK, leveraging the JavaScript OpenSocial container used by most of the applications that run on the social networking service.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed on a conference call yesterday that Window Mobile 7 indeed won’t be here until next year. Although Ballmer didn’t give an exact date, it’s thought that the OS will be sent to manufacturers in November of this year and will show up in consumer devices by April of next year as previously reported.

The REDFLY Mobile Companion embiggens even the smallest of compatible Windows Mobile smartphones and PDAs. In light of this, the Memphis police department just threw down for 12,000 of the devices and deployed them in their cruisers, saying, “The REDFLYs save hardware costs while increasing productivity and also improving the quality and accuracy of the officers’ field reports.”

LG just agreed to a deal with Microsoft to not only include Windows Mobile on more of its cellphones, but to increase the number of cellphones it makes in order to prop up Windows Mobile. Now, depending on whether or not you’re one of those “WinMo sucks!” people, this is either good or bad news: LG makes decent phones (right?), but “subjecting” it to Windows Mobile may be seen, by some, as unfortunate.

Like lipstick on a pig here comes WinMo 6.5, the next amazing interface from everyone’s favorite mobile software company. I could go the “Looks like iPhone” route, but I won’t. In fact, Microsoft should have been way ahead of the game six years ago yet they clung to a dated OS for so long that this looks like catch up – the the freaking Palm Pre. While I’m sure a lot of man hours went into producing this, those man hours should have been put in before the iPhone was glimmer in Steve’s eye. Sadly, as we all know, Microsoft is Me Too and not Me First.

Microsoft just took the wraps off of the latest WinMo release. Just like the dozens of leaked screenshots indicated, the OS has a totally revamped feel with a Zune-inspired user interface. The Marketplace and MyPhone are included too although details are a bit light at the moment. There isn’t any word about about paid apps or who will host the contents, although we expect those details shortly. Screenshots after the break to tide you over until we get to poke and prod the update.

Well, look at that: A marketplace icon. There have been rumors circulating that Microsoft would unveil a Windows Mobile application marketplace sometime soon and even possibly at MWC next week, but these screenshots are the first evidence of its existence. We’ll hold off on calling the Marketplace official or confirmed, but there it is. The icon is sitting smack dab in the center of the latest WinMo leaked pics that also display a much cleaner interface overall. More pics after the jump. You should like what you see.

It is probably safe to say that this is what Windows Mobile 6.5 will look like with this many screen shots. No one can deny the Zune-ish feel to ‘em either. Mobile World Congress starts next week and purhaps Microsoft is reading the upcoming OS for a preview or soft launch. Previously we learned that 6.5 will hit manufacturers in April with the devices hitting consumer’s hands sometime in September. If these screenshots are any indication though, September cannot come soon enough.

We have already seen what 6.5 screenshots of the next WinMo refresh, but now we have a roadmap of the mobile OS. It seems that manufacturers will get the 6.5 update in April and those devices should hit consumer’s hands the following September. WinMo 7, however, should be released to manufacturers in November followed by devices in April 2010. Hopefully the upcoming release of 6.5 is special enough to keep our attention cause the mobile platform is dying and we can only imagine what the open source Android will evolve into a year from now; not to mention Palm’s webOS.

The next incarnation of WinMob might be Microsoft’s last gasp as Apple, Blackberry, and now Palm reach for an even bigger market share with killer platforms. Microsoft does have the stuff to make a killer OS – look at the Zune – but those folks might be on their way out due to jobs cuts leaving the old farts that designed WinMob user interface a half a decade ago. These screenshots (after the break) on a Compulab exeda smartphone of 6.5 alpha does show promise with an interface similar to earlier spy shots.