The new Internet Explorer Mobile for Windows Mobile 6.1 – desktop browsing from Windows Mobile

It was hard standing idly by, snapping a few pictures, while everyone else was busy taking video of Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s demonstration of the next-generation Internet Explorer Mobile for Windows Mobile 6.1. Not having a video camera on hand was hard, but not being able to show you readers what Microsoft had in store for Internet Explorer Mobile was even harder.

As I mentioned previously, Microsoft is aiming to deliver the same desktop-like browsing experience that you get with Opera Mobile/Opera Mini and Firefox Mobile in an updated Internet Explorer Mobile (Pocket Internet Explorer, as some of you might know it). The new IE Mobile is based wholly on code from the desktop version of Internet Explorer and is ported to work on the WM6.1 platform. The browser is still in development, but from what I saw, it worked beautifully on a touchscreen handset.

Keep in mind, this isn’t the revised IE Mobile that is shipping with Windows Mobile 6.1. The current WM6.1 IE Mobile includes pan and zoom features that allow for a degree of desktop-like browsing, but the upcoming IE Mobile is a complete overhaul that makes the current version look like weak. Oh, and this not-yet-released version of IE Mobile will play embedded desktop-Flash content as well – a huge plus in our book.

While I don’t have exclusive video of the new browser, peep this here video from Brighthand – they had a video camera…