With phones packing more and more memory and functionality, users may be wondering how to back it all up. Microsoft has an answer, but only for Windows Mobile phones.

The service, which will probably be known as SkyBox, has not yet been officially announced by Microsoft, but has been rumored for some time. Recently, the team that is developing the website for the service took the site live ahead of schedule. That mis-step was spotted by a number of Microsoft watchers, including the Engadget Mobile site. With this site under development, it seems that rumor has turned into reality, although the service will apparently only be a limited Beta to begin with.

The Microsoft My Phone site indicated that the new service will allow users to back up and restore their cell phone’s data, remotely access contact and scheduling information, and share phone-based photos. Subscribers will get 200MB of free storage in the proposed phone data cloud. Apparently, though, any synchronization attempt that exceeds that limit will simply truncate any files that are beyond the 200MB limit.

It would seem that this new service is intended to start the resuscitation of Microsoft’s stalled cell phone efforts, or perhaps to kick of an entirely new strategy, according to a CNET article. Apparently, ZDNet was able to get confirmation of the coming My Phone launch from Microsoft. They released an except from this confirmation, which reads as follows: “We are excited about the new Microsoft My Phone service, which will be available as a limited, invite-only beta. This is a significant milestone for Microsoft as it connects the phone to the PC and Web, making mobility a key pillar for the company’s software+services strategy.”

Microsoft’s top Windows Mobile executive, Andy Lees, told CNET a month ago that the Redmond giant would be using the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona to revive its mobile phone strategy, including services that help connect the phone to the PC and Web. Lees said, “You are going to see a bunch of announcements at Mobile World Congress but also it is going to be the beginning of a 12 to18-month period where you are going to see a whole bunch of different stuff.”

Wherever Microsoft is headed with this new service, the path is going to be difficult because of the low number of phones which run the Windows Mobile operating system. It does not seem as if their market is yet large enough. However, this new service may give its competitors some ideas about one more billable feature that they could offer their users.

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Entry was posted on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 5:26 pm under Cell phones, Microsoft, Storage.

Read more entries by Michael W. Jones.
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