14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Phone 7, the new mobile operating system that Microsoft brought to shelves in October last year, is expected to become more appealing before the end of 2011, through the addition of new features and applications into the mix.
Among the enhancements that the mobile platform is expected to receive during 2011, we can count the inclusion of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) web browser for mobile.
Several weeks ago, Microsoft went official with its plans to deliver a nice range of updated features to Windows Phone 7 devices, including the IE9 browser, but did not confirm a specific launch window for any of them as of yet.
The new software update, some suggested, might actually land during fall 2011, most probably in October, one year after the release of WIndows Phone 7. It would be the first truly major OS upgrade for the Windows Phone platform, codenamed Mango.
However, some of the latest reports on the matter point out that the web browser in Windows Phone 7 might be upgraded earlier than that, and that users would be able to taste IE9 on their mobile phones before fall is here.
On top of that, it has been suggested that the upcoming browser will not only support HTML5, as already confirmed, but it would also include Silverlight support.
IE9 is currently touted as one of the fastest browsers avaialble for desktop computers running Microsoft's Windows OS, and chances are that it would arrive on mobile phones with the same performance capabilities, providing users with a great experience.
Since nothing was confirmed officially on this for the time being, we'll take the info with a grain of salt.
The mobile browser in Windows Phone 7 is said to be modular, which means that Microsoft can easily upgrade it separately from the operating system, though it remains to be seen whether the company would indeed be able to deliver the new flavor of the application before the said Mango update.
You can have a look at a demo of IE9 for Windows Phone 7 in the video embedded below.