Windows Mobile 7 is rapidly turning from a fact into a rumour, as the long-awaited smartphone operating system is repeatedly pushed back further and further from its original release date.

The new iteration was supposed to be live earlier this year, with version 6.5 rolled out as a stop-gap update to keep Windows Mobile limping along in the face of stiff competition. This minor upgrade did at least make the platform compatible with its own application store, though Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was reportedly none too happy with it, saying, "[Microsoft has] screwed up with Windows Mobile".

Speaking at the Connect summit in London, the job of announcing further embarrassing delays to Windows Mobile 7 fell to UK head of mobility Phil Moore.

"It has been put back until late next year but it is definitely coming," Moore reassures us. "You’re going to see a lot more on Windows Mobile 7. You’ll get flexibility on a much easier touch UI."

Certainly it'd be hard to see less of Windows Mobile 7, and with Android forging ahead in the smartphone stakes, it's going to have to be spectacular to make up all this lost ground.