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Mango
Microsoft demonstrated some features of its upcoming "Mango" software update for Windows Phones at a small New York City presentation.
Andy Lees
Andy Lees, senior vice president of Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business, suggested to the assembled media and analysts that Windows Phone offers "innovation and choice but without the frustration and fragmentation."
Apps
Lees suggested that Windows Phone is an ideal platform for rich apps. Seen here: British Airways' upcoming app, which allows users to take a virtual "fly-through" of a particular plane to their seat.
Communications Consolidation
Mango will boost Windows Phone's communication abilities. Information from Twitter and LinkedIn will display in the "People" Hub, and a new "Groups" option will allow users to send emails to clusters of friends and family.
Photo Updates
The "Groups" option allows users to view their friends' and colleagues' photos.
Mass Messaging
The "Groups" option will also enable mass-messaging via text, chat and email. Microsoft has been working on the algorithms behind its messaging, allowing Windows Phone to better anticipate words (such as "birthday" after "happy") and speed the messaging process.
Threaded Conversations
Threaded messaging lets users keep track of conversations.
Inbox
Mango will give Windows Phone the ability to link multiple inboxes into a folder and see multiple conversations linked to a particular email ("3 messages, 1 unread"), giving the mobile email interface a distinctly Outlook-like feel.
Protected Emails
A protected-email option lets users lock down their messages to prevent them from being printed or forwarded.
Office Hub
Windows Phone's Office Hub is the center of its productivity options.
Office 365 and SkyDrive
With Mango, Windows Phone users will have the ability to share and save Office documents via Office 365 and Windows SkyDrive.
Games
The Xbox Live Hub, meanwhile, has been completely redesigned for Mango, particularly to take advantage of the update's multitasking abilities.
Quick Cards
Mango blends the Internet with Windows Phone's interface, including "Quick Cards" that organize Internet information on various things (restaurants, movies, etc.) into a series of, well, interactive cards.
Local Scout
Mango also introduces Local Scout, which allows users to access everything to see and do in a particular neighborhood.
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Microsoft (NYSE:MSFT) showed off new features of its Windows Phone "Mango" update at a small New York City presentation for media and analysts May 24. Mango will supposedly come with close to 500 new elements, including a number of features for both enterprise users and consumers. More to the point, the update represents something of a revamp for Microsoft's smartphone platform, allowing it to better compete, at least in theory, against Apple's iPhone and the growing family of Google Android devices. As part of that revamp, Microsoft is leaning heavily on services such as Twitter and LinkedIn, which feature prominently Windows Phone's "People" Hub and other places. The Mango update will also offer expanded functionality for Windows Phone's Office and Xbox Live Hubs. The latter has been redesigned to take advantage of Mango's new multitasking abilities, letting users leave games temporarily to answer emails and perform other tasks before logging back in. Meanwhile, Mango's newfound enterprise functionality includes the ability to search a server for email items no longer stored on the device and share and save Office documents via Office 365 and Windows SkyDrive. There's also an upgraded Internet experience, one that tightly bakes Microsoft's Bing search engine into the interface. Samsung, LG Electronics and HTC already build Windows Phone devices and will release new ones in conjunction with Mango. Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE will produce Mango-loaded Windows Phone devices for the first time. The first smartphones from Microsoft's partnership with Nokia will also come with Mango preloaded.