We told you yesterday that Microsoft will officially reveal the next version of WP7 which is known as Windows Phone 7.1 Mango, we also told you about a rumor that there will be new phones, but actually the rumor was just false. The event was all about software and there was no sign of any device, but still we got a lot of information out of it. With Mango, Microsoft is focusing on communication, apps and Internet.Microsoft also announced that Nokia first WP7 device will come with Windows Phone 7.1 Mango, and they also said that they are already working on a Nokia WP7 device and it’s currently in lab. They didn’t tell us when it’s coming out, but as we heard that Microsoft will launch Mango equipped devices later this year, you can expect Nokia first ever WP7 device around holiday time or early next year. Well, as we know that Nokia and Microsoft are in a partnership, and Nokia is the biggest hardware maker. My personal guess is that Nokia will produce the first ever WP7 device running on Mango, I am just saying so don’t believe in my words.
Microsoft also announced 3 new Windows Phone 7 hardware partners and they are Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE. All of them are leading companies, and Nokia also joined the OEM list a few months ago. So now there are a total of 7 OEMs and the names are HTC, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE. Someone is missing from the list right? Yes, you are right, Dell is missing from the list. When askedMicrosoft about Dell, they asked people to “stay tuned”. It looks like Dell isn’t satisfied with their WP7 sales and that’s why they are abandoning it? Well, Michael Dell told Wall Street Journal that they want to focus on its enterprise market instead of consumer market.
Before the event goes live, Microsoft Romania fully revealed all the features of Windows Phone 7.1. So check out all the features below and don’t forget to check out the videos after the break to have a look on some of the main features of Mango.
A. Communications, with information organized around a person or a group:
- the ability to toggle between Facebook Chat, Windows Live Messenger Chat and Messages, all in one conversation
- Contact groups can be turned into personalized Live Tiles for a quick glance of recent status updates as well as a fast way of interacting right from the Start screen
- Twitter integration as well as LinkedIn integration with Contacts
- Facebook check-ins with better face detection and easy tagging
- Linked inbox for combining several accounts with grouped messages and conversation view
- Hands-free messaging with speech-to-text and text-to-speech
B. Applications
- Multitasking with some applications having the ability to run in the background. The user can easily toggle between them
- Improved Dynamic Live Tiles allow for easy information retrieval and update without the need for the corresponding app to be open
- Applications will be featured on Search results and Hubs and will be displayed when necessary
C. Internet
- Internet Explorer 9 brings PC browser power to your smartphone with HTML 5 and hardware acceleration
- Local Scout gives you local recommendations for restaurants, shops, activities in your vicinity while displaying them in an easy to read manner
- Improved Bing featuring Bing Vision, Music Search and Voice for easily recognizing images, tags, songs and your speech
- Quick Cards will bring you a relevant summary and applications while searching for a product, movie, event or place.
D. The Ecosystem
The platform and ecosystem will be further improved by welcoming three new hardware partners: Acer, Fujitsu Ltd and ZTE. These OEMs committed to delivering Windows Phones on a global scale by the end of this year.
E. Windows Phone Beta Tools
The new Mango Tools for developers will go live on Microsoft’s page in the upcoming 24 hours for developers to download and use to create a new generation of Mango apps and games that will take advantage of the new features introduced.
There’s still a lot more to Windows Phone 7 Mango and its more than 500 features it will bring but these are the most noteworthy among all. Let’s wait and see these in action as well as hear the others from Microsoft itself at today’s Mango Launch Event.
Best thing among all? It’s coming to a Windows Phone near you at the beginning of this autumn! Hopefully carriers will do a great job at testing and Microsoft at pushing it out in time. Might not have to wait for the Holiday season to grab it after all!
