Almost three years after Apple introduced the iPhone, Microsoft responds with Windows Mobile 6.5. What does Gizmodo have to say about the new and improved WinMo?

There’s no excuse for this.

Point by point, menu by menu, and screen by screen, Gizmodo’s John Herrman disects the latest WinMo, and issues a ruling.

It’s a superficial update, and not a very thorough one. It’s an interim product, and a vain attempt to hold onto the thinning ranks people who still choose Windows Mobile despite not being somehow tethered to it until the tardy Windows Mobile 7 comes out, whenever that may be.

What does Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer have to say about competition with Apple’s iPhone?

We and Apple are neck and neck and we’re chasing the two other players (Nokia and RIM).

Neck and neck? On what planet? Apple’s iPhone surpassed Windows Mobile in unit sales this year. iPhone sales continue to grow while Windows Mobile sales continues to drop. Apple’s revenue per iPhone is reportedly $500 per unit, while Microsoft’s license revenue for Windows Mobile is less than $50 per unit.

Truly, using Windows causes insanity.

From Reuters:

Microsoft also announced a new online application store, where users can buy 246 applications for their phones.

246? Apple announced that the iPhone’s App Store now has over 85-thousand applications, and over 2-billion downloads to date.