Microsoft has released a new version of its successful Windows Mobile operating system. The new version, 6.1, was unveiled at CTIA Wireless 2008 and improves navigation and security. The included updated version of Internet Explorer Mobile offers support for H.264, Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight and adds the ability to view full-screen Web pages and multimedia on the Web with a smartphone.

The Redmond company claims that the new mobile OS and its browser would bring "desktop grade" Web browsing to mobile devices. The new Internet Explorer lets users view full-screen Web pages and multimedia on their smartphones just as they would on a PC. There's also an enhanced zoom feature that makes document and Web navigation easier, Microsoft said.

According to the company, the new version will be available for partner in the third quarter of 2008 and the first phones using the new Internet Explorer Mobile are expected in the end of 2008.

Users of the new Windows Mobile will be able to easily flag, delete or move groups of messages and keep track of conversations through threaded text messaging. Also, in the new Windows Mobile, if you use a POP3/IMAP e-mail account (like Gmail, AOL, or Yahoo!), you can use Fetch to download an entire large e-mail in with no additional intervention required. A complete list of the new features is available here.

"Windows Mobile is not just for business phones," said Robert Bach, head of the entertainment and devices unit of Microsoft, to Dow Jones Newswires. "It's a phone for people."

Unveiled at the last year’s 3GSM World Congress Windows Mobile 6.0 was meant to be similar to Windows Vista and there are three editions available: Windows Mobile 6 Standard, Windows Mobile 6 Professional and Windows Mobile 6 Classic. However, Microsoft has managed to sell only 11 million units of Windows Mobile during the last year.

Late last year, Microsoft unveiled an upgrade for its Office Mobile suite which contains Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, and PowerPoint Mobile applications: Office Mobile 6.1. It is compatible with the new file format used by Office 2007, the latest office suite launched by Microsoft in January last year. Office 2007 is based on Open XML and until December Office Mobile applications weren’t compatible with documents created with its desktop counterpart.