Steve Niles here. We just got back from the Pocket PC launch. Microsoft officially launched the latest version of their Windows CE operating system, dubbed Pocket PC, yesterday at Grand Central Station in New York City. Microsoft President and CEO Steve Ballmer explained the choice of the unusual venue by saying the building was “emblematic for mobile professionals.” They felt it an appropriate surrounding in which to unveil Microsoft’s latest attempt to make strides in the growing mobile computer market.

Ballmer conceded that in the past, Microsoft has had less than stellar success in the realm of Personal Digital Assistants. He described the previous Palm-size PCs as having been designed as expandable devices that unfortunately fell short in many basic areas. With the new Pocket PC, Ballmer claims the shortcomings of previous versions have been addressed and feels confident in the future of the Pocket PC, calling it “an incredible quantum leap forward.”

This sentiment was echoed by Microsoft Vice President of Mobile Services Devices Ben Waldman who quipped, “Many people joke it takes Microsoft until version 3 to get it right.” Waldman, along with marketing manager Brian Shafer, demonstrated many of the new features on the Pocket PC. These included the ability to view email attachments in either Pocket Word or Pocket Excel; the transcriber feature, which translates normal handwriting into printed text; an MP3 player and Windows Media player; and the Pocket PC’s wireless connectivity to any Web site.

During the Web connection demonstration, Waldman introduced Bluetooth technology. Though it is still several months from release, Waldman made use of a prototype. The Bluetooth technology allowed a Pocket PC device to use a nearby cell phone as a modem with no physical wire attachment between the two.

Steve Ballmer spoke of the future and the incredible changes that are in store for computers and the Internet. With the Pocket PC’s real-time, full-access Web connection, Ballmer and Microsoft hope the new operating system to fit into the public’s concept of “the next generation Internet experience.”