REDMOND, USA - Microsoft's Windows Mobile smartphone operating system has been experiencing a declining market share for the past few years. Part of the blame has been placed on the antiquated user interface. In a bid to overhaul the user experience, the software giant is planning to come out with a new update for Windows Mobile.

The 6.5.3 update is already being seen on upcoming devices, such as the Sony Ericsson Aspen. The update is expected to bring for support for capacitive touch screens and multi-touch gestures.

Microsoft has released a list of features which have been added to the updated OS.  These feature upgrades broadly revolve around improving the ease of use, a better browser experience and improving quality and customer satisfaction features.

In regards to ease-of-use, capacitive touchscreen support has been added which will in turn allow for multi-touch. A consistent UI has been worked upon while the start button has been moved down like in Windows.

The need for a stylus has been completely eliminated and a new horizontal scroll bar replaces tabs. A magnifier will bring touch support to legacy applications and it will be possible to drag-and-drop applications on the home screen.

The browser implementations revolve around decreased page load times, memory management and support for flick-and-pan gestures. The zoom and rotation speeds have also been increased.

Expect to hear more about this during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.