MyPhone is a cloud service that syncs information such as contacts, appointments, tasks, text messages, photos and video between a mobile phone and a personal, protected Web site.

The site can be used to back up and restore mobile phone data, move it to a different phone and access the data from a PC. MyPhone also works as a portal where people can access and manage information on their phone and share it with others, the company said.

It's a free service with 200 megabytes of storage. Microsoft will presumably charge for additional storage, and carriers may charge users for data transfers.

Competitors include Apple's MobileMe, Nokia's Ovi service -- which was partly developed in Seattle -- and the GrandCentral service that Google acquired but hasn't pushed heavily.

Microsoft's going to release an invitation-only beta version. It will work only with phones running Windows Mobile 6 software to start. There was no word on whether an iPhone version is in the works.