Push Email on 'legacy' smartphones?

[Guest jabbrwcky]

It's been a long time since Microsoft started talking about device updates to support the push email functionality built in to Exchange 2003 SP2 and later, Exchange 12. Vodafone and Orange have recently released updates for a selection of their Windows Mobile 5 devices but seem silent on updates for older, non-WM5 ones.

I was at a Microsoft conference last week and was amused to note that at least 1 in 3 people there had a typhoon-based device, mostly Orange SPV C500s. I mentioned this to one of the Exchange guys there and was told quietly that it's something they're working at.

This I presume is because it's in their interest to take advantage of the massive numbers of existing WM2003 smartphones in the wild, since that will ultimately add value to their offering vs RIM / Blackberry's more expensive device requirements.

Has anyone else heard anything about this? I'm guessing there are no official statements either way... :|