14 DAY TRIAL // As soon as Windows Phone Mango, the next iteration of Microsoft's mobile operating system, arrives on the market, users in more countries around the world will be able to purchase applications from the Windows Phone Marketplace, perform Bing searches by hitting the phone's hardware button, and do other actions as well. Last month, Microsoft announced that it aimed at putting up a web Marketplace for users, and confirmed that more users would be able to purchase software from the application storefront.
Now, the company reaffirmed those plans, adding that users in 35 countries should enjoy access to the Windows Phone Marketplace as soon as the new WP Mango version is released:
The list includes: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States.
However, it should be noted that not all applications will be available for all markets, and that the manner in which these apps can be purchased might differ as well.
The Zune Marketplace for music, video, and podcasts should arrive in a wider range of markets as well, the same as the Xbox LIVE service that Microsoft put in place for Windows Phone users. Specific info on this should become available later this summer.
As stated above, Mango will also bring Bing search accessible from the phone’s hardware Search button to more markets. Users in a number of 33 countries will enjoy the feature, the company announced.
The list of countries includes: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States.
In other markets, carriers and handset vendors will have the option to set the said button to get users to a local search page.
Other specific features that Mango will bring forth include:
- Local search results show up in 6 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States. - Maps is supported in 19 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States. - Voice-to-text and Voice-to-dial is available in 6 countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and the Unites States. - Voice search is supported in 4 countries: France, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States.