Microsoft reveals 'My Phone' backup, sync service

09.02.2009
Just hours after , then yanked, a Web site promoting its new "My Phone" backup and sync service, the company restored the site and posted more information about the free service.

Late Friday, restored the My Phone site, which said the service is "Coming soon." In a posted to several Web sites, the company said that more information about the invite-only beta would be given out at the World Mobile Congress, which opens Feb. 16 in Barcelona, Spain.

is slated to give a keynote speech at the trade show on Feb. 17.

Earlier, Endgadget Mobile reported that the My Phone site was live at the getskybox.com domain. Later, Microsoft acknowledged the screw-up. "Today, Microsoft's My Phone Web site went live prior to its scheduled debut," the company said, several sites reported. Currently, getskybox.com -- a reference to the "SkyBox" code name of the service -- shunted users to the .

According to the information now posted to the site, users of My Phone will be able to back up contacts, calendar appointments, text messages, photos and other information online; share those photos with others; update the information from a computer using a Web-based interface; and use the stored data to restore a phone transfer it to a new device.

Microsoft said it would give each user 200MB of storage space, but warned that only phones powered by Windows Mobile 6 or later would be compatible with the service. In fact, it hedged: "Most phones that run the Windows Mobile 6 operating system are compatible with My Phone service," said the service's site.