Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer took to the stage at this year’s MWC to make two quite significant announcements intended to help get the software giant back in the smartphone game.

Windows Mobile 6.5 was (finally) officially unveiled, with partners LG, HTC and Orange in attendance to offer their support to the revamped system. Most prominently this update offers a new user interface (dubbed the honeycomb) and integrated access to the new Microsoft Marketplace.

The Marketplace constituted Balmer’s second announcement as he discussed the company’s answer to the iPhone’s App Store. The Marketplace will provide users with access to paid applications and games from the Windows Mobile catalogue, which apparently stands at around the 20,000 mark, so not a bad way to kick things off.

The version 6.5 services also include My Phone, which operates in a similar manner to Google and Apple’s MobileMe, allowing users to sync their data with an online resource.

Currently three handsets are slated to come with Windows Mobile 6.5 pre-installed, though all three will actually be upgrades so much as OS specific designs. The LG GM7300, HTC Touch Diamond 2 and Touch Pro 2 are all expected mid-2009 with Windows Mobile 6.5 fully running.