Next week (24th May), Microsoft will take the stage to show us some goodies on Windows Phone 7 with their major release, codename Mango. However, it seems that Microsoft is leaking out more news prior to this event to get people ready for it. Within a few days, we have heard more about Mango from Microsoft sources than anybody else.
Just a day or two ago, we heard from Windows Phone Dev podcast about some up and coming features of Windows Phone 7. The new features include Facebook Chat, the new Office 365 and Skydrive.
Some changes in the Games Hub too. Now, you can see Xbox Live integration.
Next, a new Group Chat that seems to allow you to send SMSes/Emails to the group.
And another feature is to allow the Artist artwork to display on the Wallpaper in a phone lock condition.
Click Here to Listen to Podcast
That is not all. Today, at Microsoft annual TechED event, more features were shown on Mango. This time, it was concentrated on business aspect of the Windows Phone 7.
- Pinnable email folders: Pin a folder to the start screen for quick access. This could be an email folder for a specific project, from a specific group or person (like your boss), or an RSS feed you’ve set up in Outlook.
- Conversation view in email: Emails in your inbox are organized by conversation, bringing replies to a thread into a consolidated view so it’s faster and easier to stay on top of the conversation.
- Server search: Search your email server (e.g. Exchange Server) for older emails no longer stored on your phone, giving you ready access to all of your mail.
- Lync: Lync Mobile brings the Lync experience to Windows Phone customers by delivering Unified Communications capabilities, including instant messaging and the ability to see the presence of your co-workers. The Lync app will be a free download from Windows Phone Marketplace and will be enabled with support from your business organization.
However, I am just wondering currently, how many businesses will convert their co-workers to Windows Phone 7 because of these features. Anyway, too early to say anything. Here is a video on them.
Click Here to read more about it
Here is my summary of those features discussed or shown on Windows Phone 7 Mango update.
Summary (not official)
- Copy and paste functionality – DONE
- 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
- Bing Audio
- Bing Vision
- Voice
- Bing Maps with Navigation
- Podcast on Marketplace
- Voice to Text Messaging
- Windows Live Messenger
- Asian Language Support
- Windows Live Messenger and Facebook Chat
- Office 365 and Skydrive support
- Xbox Live Integration
- Group Chat
- Artist Artwork on Lock Screen
- Pinnable email folders
- Conversation view in email
- Server search
- Lync