Feb 14, 2011 15:30 GMT  ·  By

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, in February 2010, Redmond-based software giant Microsoft announced officially the launch of Windows Phone 7, its brand new mobile platform. One year later, at MWC 2011, the company details some of the features that would enhance the experience of any Windows Phone 7 owners out there during the ongoing year and beyond. We already knew that the company plans on providing a series of software updates for the mobile operating system, one of which would be released soon, and some more info on the features that would be pushed to end users emerged.

According to the company, it plans on offering users not only more features, but also access to an expanded Marketplace, and some more Microsoft products included into the mix.

Some of the major enhancements that Windows Phone 7 would taste during the ongoing year include:

- Copy and paste functionality via first major update, coming in the next month - Twitter integration directly into the People Hub in 2011 - Support for Office documents in the cloud in 2011 - Dramatically enhanced Web browser experience based on IE9 in 2011 - A new wave of multitasking applications in 2011

Microsoft confirmed that Windows Phone 7 should receive native Twitter integration and the Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) browser in the second half of the ongoing year.

Moreover, the company confirmed some of the latest rumors on the first Windows Phone 7 update, which should land on devices sometime in March (on March 8th, some suggested).

With a number of over 28,000 registered developers, the Windows Phone Marketplace should soon hit the 10,000 apps mark (8,000 at the moment). Users at 60 mobile operators in 30 countries around the world can enjoy Windows Phone 7 handsets, the company announced.

“A year ago, we introduced Windows Phone 7 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona,” Andy Lees, president of Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business, stated.

“We described how we are putting the entire muscle of our company behind our mobile strategy including Windows, Windows Live, Bing, Zune, Xbox LIVE, Office, SharePoint, Exchange, and our developer tools.

For Windows Phone 7, 2011 also marks the addition of Nokia to the list of handset vendors that would support the platform, thing being one of the most profitable agreements Microsoft signed with a phone maker.

“Our alliance with Nokia creates opportunities for both companies far beyond what we could achieve separately, and offers a compelling alternative to the existing choices for consumers, mobile operators and developers,” Lees stated.

The first Nokia Windows Phone is expected to hit the shelves before the end of the ongoing year, and a prototype device was already confirmed at MWC. Next year, a significant volume of Nokia Windows Phone devices is expected to reach the market in 2012.

Note: Fellow editors Cosmin Vasile and Alex Vochin are on the floor at the 2011 Mobile World Congress and are keeping us posted with pictures and live reports on the latest product previews and launches.