CNET offers a rundown of the largely expected upgrades coming with Windows Mobile 6.5, which Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer formally introduced at his GSMA speech in Barcelona:

• Better IE Browser
• My Phone storage
• Apps store
• New interface

(Here's the official Microsoft press release.) LG and HTC are the primary OEMs for the new offering. Presumably all Windows Mobile users will be able to upgrade however.

Many of these measures are widely perceived as a stop-gap before Windows Mobile 7 (in 2010) to catch up and/or prevent the OS from falling farther behind rivals: Apple, Google/Android, Palm (now with Pre) and RIM. 

Mobile IE will also reportedly support Java and Flash, which is noticeably absent from the iPhone. 

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Related: Flash player 10 will be coming to most smartphones in 2010. And Palm joins the Adobe-sponsored Open Screen Project. Eventually Flash will work on the iPhone but it remains to be seen how long that takes and whether any of Apple's competitors can exploit that fact to their near-term advantage.

The HTC "Magic" (G2 Android; no physical keyboard) is being offered exclusively by Vodafone in Europe and is discussed at BGR.