by Jose Martinez
With the Mango update now so close one can taste it, Windows Phone is looking better than ever. At this last week's conference, Microsoft announced the completion of the Mango code and began releasing it for testing. This solidifies the previously stated Fall release of this ambitious software update. Not only is Microsoft releasing new hardware to support this shinny new OS upgrade, but they boast all Windows Phone 7 models that are out now will also be able to run it without a hitch. If you are one of those who thought you would never like a Windows phone because they don't offer enough features, Microsoft is challenging you with a robust 500 new features to add to what it already offers. Here are some of the new goodies that have been released so far, with many more to come for this unique OS:
> Easier communications, with features such as:
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| New Group Messaging Options |
Threads. Switch between text, Facebook chat, and Windows Live Messenger within the same conversation.
Groups. Group contacts into personalized Live Tiles to see the latest status updates and quickly send a text, email or IM to the whole group, right from the Start screen.
Deeper social network integration. Twitter and Linked In feeds are now integrated into contact cards. There’s also built-in Facebook check-ins, and new face detection software that makes it easy to quickly tag photos and post to the web.
Linked Inbox. See multiple email accounts in one linked inbox. Conversations are organized to make it easy to stay on top of the latest mail.
Hands-free messaging. Built-in speech-to-text and text-to-speech support enables hands-free texting or chatting.
> A smarter approach to apps, with features such as:
App Connect. See apps in search results and hubs such as Music + Videos and Pictures. App Connect works with Marketplace, so results include both apps already on your phone and new apps to download.
Improved Live Tiles. Live Tiles are more dynamic and can hold more information—making it easier to get real-time info from apps without having to open them.
Multitasking. Apps can now run in the background while preserving battery life and performance. You can also quickly switch between open apps.
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| Bing Local Scout |
> Going beyond the browser, with features such as:
Internet Explorer 9. The power of a PC-browser plus support for HTML5 and hardware-accelerated graphics.
Bing. Bing on Windows Phone offers more ways to search the web with voice and music search and Bing Vision, which uses your phone’s camera to look up product info.
Local Scout. Provides hyper-local search results and recommends nearby restaurants, shopping and activities in an easy to use guide powered by Bing.
Quick Cards. Handy summaries of relevant info from Bing (including related apps) for products, movies, events or place you search for.
> Improved Music + Videos experience
-Podcasts (browse and download)
-Smart DJ
-Better-organized Marketplace search results
-Music + Videos Hub improvements
-Improved History and New
-Better mini-playback control
-New lock-screen options
-New artist wallpapers
-Better playback controls
-Better artist images
-More playback info
-More playback options
-New playlist option
-Better data management
-More video options
> Xbox LIVE enhancements
-See your played games and unlocked/locked achievements
-Compare Achievements with other Xbox LIVE members
-Search your list of friends to see who is online and what they are doing
-See your Xbox LIVE messages and Send/Accept/Reject friend requests
> New SkyDrive features
-Share photos stored on SkyDrive via email, text, or IM
-Share your videos on SkyDrive
-Browse your documents stored on SkyDrive
-Search your SkyDrive documents
> New languages, phones, and app stores
Apps will be available to more people around the world, and Mango will support languages including Chinese (simplified and traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Swedish.
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