With the flurry of new Windows Phone 7 devices out there, Microsoft has begun to discontinue My Phone service and Windows Marketplace for Mobile for Windows Mobile 6.x phones. Microsoft sent out an email to WinMo 6.x users advising them of these cuts.
As ZDNet reports, Microsoft is slowly but surely killing off Windows Mobile 6.x. Microsoft is discontinuing My Phone service and Windows Marketplace for Mobile, the company stated in an email to Windows Mobile 6.x customers.
The Marketplace for Mobile web site will no longer be available after July 15, even though the service will still be available on phones. The My Phone backup service will be phased out between August 7 through October 6, according to Microsoft officials. Microsoft wants WinMo 6.x users to migrate to the free Windows Live SkyDrive online storage service.
This appears to be Microsoft’s attempt to slowly phase out Windows Mobile 6.x and to entice users to move onto the latest and greatest, Windows Mobile 7.
Here is the email sent out to customers:
Dear Windows Mobile 6.x customer:
Microsoft will be discontinuing the My Phone service for Windows Mobile 6.x. We will also be discontinuing the Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site. Because you may be affected, please review the details below:
Windows Marketplace for Mobile Web Site To Be Discontinued
The Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site at http://marketplace.windowsphone.com will no longer be available starting on July 15, 2011. After July 15, 2011, you will no longer be able to browse, buy or download applications for Windows Mobile 6.x phones via the Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site.
The Windows Marketplace for Mobile service will continue to be available on your phone, however. You will continue to be able to browse, buy and download applications for Windows Mobile 6.x on your phone.
My Phone To Be Discontinued
On August 7, 2011, the My Phone service will stop saving content from phones to the My Phone service. If you rely on the My Phone service to back-up the content on your Windows Mobile 6.x phone, you will be affected.
Starting on August 7, 2011, Microsoft will begin moving your My Phone content to Windows Live SkyDrive. SkyDrive is Microsoft’s free online storage service that helps you access and share your files such as photos and Microsoft Office documents. Contacts, calendar entries, text messages and photos will be moved to SkyDrive for you. Once moved, you will be able to access this content by logging into SkyDrive using the Windows Live ID that you used to register for the My Phone service.
Other content types, including videos, music, documents and favorites will not be moved from My Phone to SkyDrive for you. If you want this content, you must save it from the My Phone service to your local PC.
On October 6, 2011, the My Phone web site at http://www.microsoft.com/myphone will no longer be available. On this date, you will no longer be able to log in to the My Phone service to access your content stored to the My Phone service. Microsoft will continue to store your My Phone content for one (1) year. Physical copies of your content can be shipped to you upon request until October 5, 2012.
Take Action
To learn more about the My Phone service shut-down, including information about your content moving to Windows Live SkyDrive and how to save other content to your local PC, please visit this web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2557520
Microsoft is committed to making this transition easy. In the meantime, we want to sincerely thank you for your use of Windows Mobile 6.x.
-The Windows Phone Team
