Microsoft’s Windows Phone “Mango” Released to Manufacturing

Windows Phone 7.1 or “Mango” is Microsoft’s major update to its Windows Phone 7 OS.

Mango will officially land this fall (around September), bringing over 500 new features to existing Windows Phone 7 handsets for free and will be made pre-installed to upcoming new phones. And now, Microsoft just confirmed that the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) build of the “Mango” update has already been released to vendors.

Earlier this morning, the Windows Phone development team officially signed off on the release to manufacturing (RTM) build of “Mango” – the latest version of the Windows Phone operating system. This marks the point in the development process where we hand code to our handset and mobile operator partners to optimize Mango for their specific phone and network configurations.

This means Windows Phone 7 users are one step closer to enjoying new added features and functionalities built to “Mango” which include:

• 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 right from the Start Screen and quickly send a text, email or IM to the whole group.


• Deeper social network integration. Twitter and LinkedIn feeds are now integrated into contact cards, and “Mango” includes built-in Facebook check-ins and new face detection software that makes it easier to quickly tag photos and post to the Web.


• Hands-free messaging. Built-in voice-to-text and text-to-voice support enables hands-free texting or chatting.


• App Connect. By connecting apps to search results and deepening their integration with Windows Phone Hubs, including Music and Video and Pictures, “Mango” allows apps to be surfaced when and where they make sense.


• Improved Live Tiles. Get real-time information from apps without having to open them. Live Tiles can be more dynamic and hold more information.


• Multitasking. Quickly switch between apps in use and allow apps to run in the background, helping to preserve battery life and performance.


• Internet Explorer 9. A browser based on the powerful Internet Explorer 9 and including support for HTML5 and full hardware acceleration.


• Local Scout. Provides hyperlocal search results and recommends nearby restaurants, shopping and activities in an easy-to-use guide.


• Bing on Windows Phone. More ways to search the Web, including Bing Vision, Music Search and Voice so it’s easy to discover and decide.


• Quick Cards. When searching for a product, movie, event or place, see a quick summary of relevant information, including related apps.

To give you a better picture of all the stuff Microsoft prepped on its latest mobile OS, watch Joe Belfiore - corporate vice president of Windows Phone, showing off some of the new features coming to Windows Phone Mango. [via]

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