14 DAY TRIAL // Redmond-based software giant Microsoft is planning the delivery of Windows Phone Mango devices to developers interested in coming up with applications for the new platform release.
Last year, the company made a similar move with the first Windows Phone 7 iteration, offering free handsets to developers, so that they could come up with applications faster and easier.
“Just like last year, when we made developer phones available with the Windows Phone 7 OS, we plan to have developer phones this summer supporting new Mango features like the gyroscope,” the Windows Phone Developer Team notes in a blog post.
However, no specific availability date for these devices was unveiled as of yet, and it might take a while before the necessary details are made available.
For the time being, developers can take advantage of the already released Windows Phone Developer Tools 7.1 to start building applications for Mango.
The Tools were made available for download a few weeks ago in beta, and offer access to new APIs and resources that Mango would add into the mix.
Although in beta at the moment, these Developer Tools are fit for developing applications for the currently available Windows Phone flavor as well, and also for the upcoming Mango release.
“You can build and submit applications for the current version of Windows Phone by using WPDT 7.1 Beta,” the Windows Phone Developer Team explains.
“The beta developer tools will do an in-place upgrade of your existing WPDT installation, enabling you to continue developing existing and new Windows Phone apps that target existing Windows Phone 7.0 customers.
“The WPDT beta provides everything you need to build those solutions, along with a license to distribute and sell your apps.”
Basically, these tools would offer support for both Windows Phone 7.0 and 7.1. When creating a new project, developers will be prompted to choose the Windows Phone version they are targeting.
Since the tools are only in beta at the moment, there are big chances that applications would behave inconsistently, and developers are advised to install the new WPDT 7.1 Beta on a separate machine.
The Windows Phone Developers Tools 7.1 can be downloaded from Softpedia as well, via this link.