Microsoft My Phone Backup Service Confirmed: Beta Starting Soon

Microsoft have officially confirmed their My Phone backup and synchronization service, after it was spotted running ahead of time last week.  An official announcement regarding the service - plus an invite-only beta – is expected for Mobile World Congress, but what we do know now is that My Phone will offer synchronization of contacts, appointment and other date, together with photo sharing, for Windows Mobile handsets.Microsoft statement after the cut

The site – which still won't allow logins or registrations - has now moved from where it was originally spotted, getskybox.com, to a new address at windowsmobile.com/myphone.  As well as contacts and calendar appointments, My Phone will also store tasks, text messages, photos and video, and allow users to swap that data with multiple Windows Mobile devices.

In addition, there's an online editing system whereby data can be entered and tweaked, rather than having to do it on the device itself.  Initially Microsoft is expected to offer My Phone free, with users given 200MB of storage, and with synchronization handled by a client installed on the phone.

Microsoft statement:

Today, Microsoft's My Phone Web site went live prior to its scheduled debut. However, 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.

This new Microsoft cloud service syncs critical information (e.g., contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, text messages, photos, video, etc) on a user's mobile phone to a password protected Web site. Once synchronized, people can easily back-up and restore mobile phone data. My Phone provides an easy to use Web portal where people can access and manage content on the phone, and share that information with others.

My Phone helps people:

Keep their information backed up if they lose or break their phones.

Transition information if they switch to new phones.

Access the same information from their phone or PC.

Additional information about the service can be found here: www.windowsmobile.com/myphone

We will have more details about My Phone and the limited invite only beta at Mobile World Congress.

[via jkOnTheRun]