14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Redmond-based software giant Microsoft should go official with a new flavor of its mobile operating system, called Windows Phone Mango, and a wide range of features that the platform was already expected to include have just been confirmed.
The new Windows Phone platform is expected to be introduced during a press event set for New York City, but Microsoft Romania has already spilled the beans on the new platform release.
Just as expected, the new release would arrive with a great deal of new features, about 500 of them, CEO Steve Ballmer said recently, spanning from communication capabilities to application and Internet browsing.
With Mango, users would be able to enjoy Facebook Chat, Windows Live Messenger Chat and Messages on their devices, as well as a deeper integration with social networking sites, including Twitter or LinkedIn.
Facebook check-ins would also be there, as well as Linked inbox so that one would view more than one account at the same time, and would benefit from grouped messages and conversation view.
Moreover, the new platform release would arrive with Hands-free messaging, as well as better Live Tiles, to make the experience users receive from the OS even better.
When it comes to applications, we can count multi-tasking, along with App Connect, which would involve better integration of apps with Windows Phone Hubs, so that one would be able to access them from anywhere on the phone.
The web browsing experience would be improved as well in Mango, with the inclusion of Internet Explorer 9 into the mix, and with the addition of a Local Scout feature, which determined user's location to provide recommendations (though no device tracking would be there, we presume).
Bing on Windows Phone would be enhanced as well, with already rumored features like Bing Vision, Music Search and Voice, so that users can take decisions faster, Microsoft notes.
Another new feature in Mango would be Quick Cards, through which users would receive fast access to info on various places around them, or on objects and the like.
Microsoft also confirmed that the new mobile platform would arrive on devices this fall, both on new hardware, as well as for already existing mobile phones. Unfortunately, no specific info on these smartphones was unveiled for the time being.
New devices would arrive from known partners, as well as from new ones, such as Acer, Fujitsu Ltd. or ZTE Corp., Microsoft confirmed, adding that it would soon release a new flavor of the Windows Phone Developer Tools.