Microsoft today demonstrated the next version of Windows 7 Phone software, code-named Mango, which contains 500 new features, such as better integration of social web applications, built-in voice-to-text and text-voice support to use hands-free, and the possibility of using a single application when working in the background.
"We decided to make the smartphone more intelligent and easier," said Andy Lees, director of the Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft, at the end of a press conference in New York this morning.
The software giant said that Mango will be available this fall.
The challenge for Microsoft will be up to the hype created before the release. Holding an event in New York and encourage media attendance comes with expectations. And it fell in early with a video stream of the press conference bogged down and not loading too many observers Web, greeting them up a screen with a bar slowly to load the video stream.
The company announced several new features, including a version of Internet Explorer 9 on the phone. Introduced a program called Scout, which offers local search results hyper-local, based on the location of a user, and recommend nearby restaurants, shops and activities. And created a new feature called Quick Cards, which provides a brief summary of relevant information and related applications where users want a product, a movie or event.
Some other new features include:
• Theme: Allows users to edit the text, Facebook Chat, and Windows Live Messenger, one of the discussion.
• Groups: allows users to establish contacts in one place so you can see the latest updates to the status of the Welcome screen and quick text, email and instant messaging to the entire group.
• Linked inbox: Met several e-mail linked inbox.
• Connect the application: a greater integration between applications and research for surface applications where they are relevant to a user request for web search.
Windows Phone has had a rough start. Launched in 2010, the mobile phone software has not made a dent in his head held by IOS Apple and Google Android. Last week, Gartner found that 100 million smartphones sold worldwide in the first quarter, only 1.6 million of them running Windows Mobile 7 Android, which had 9.6 percent of the market, year earlier, rose to 36 percent of the market while Apple had a 16.8 per cent.
No doubt some of that has to do with efforts could not update the Windows Mobile 7. When Microsoft created a mobile software to prepare updated in February, some devices have failed. Microsoft pulls the update to fix some bugs. But even the updated tracking device crashed. Microsoft Corporate Vice President Joe Belfiore later apologized for the problems, citing a "lack of preparation."
Even small hiccups hurt. At Mix11, Microsoft announced that the popular game birds angry phone coming to Windows Marketplace, May 25 But last week, news broke that the game would now ship June 29
Microsoft hopes the new equipment right the ship. In February the company announced a broad partnership with the largest handset manufacturer in the world, Nokia, phone 7 to run Windows software on their devices. The first of these devices can be broadcast later this year. And New York news conference, Microsoft announced three new partners laptops: Acer, Fujitsu, and ZTE.
quality phones designed for partners, as well as the current Windows 7 Mobile phone makers HTC, Samsung and LG, which imports much, if not more, big news, Microsoft announced. Apple is the iron grip of high-end market, and its remaining slippery iPhone lust-worthy selection of people willing to shell out big dollar. Android And Google has been on the market for customers who do not want to pay so much a full-featured smartphone.
The current batch of units of Windows 7 Phone offers style and smooth software. But buyers of mobile phones have not found they will probably better than its competitors to move in large numbers.
So even if the results of the new features that Microsoft has shown in New York looks interesting, has a handful of devices is often not the most important. It is not Windows 7 telephone handset, for example, which is facing the front of the camera. This new application makes use of Skype video-conference, Lees said the forum would be soon, the audio experience.
Then there is the issue of applications. Microsoft trumpeted that the market now has 18,000 applications for users to download. The company is proud to note the number, saying that the market has opened its doors in October. But users do not care about the speed with which the bank has increased.
They want the best possible applications. It has a wide range of things too much. It seems that Apple is now 500 000 applications approved by the IOS platform. Apple will benefit from the network effect - more and more people using the iPhone, most developers want to build applications for it. Windows Phone ship is not big enough yet to produce a virtuous circle.
Mango publications are clearly some of Whizzy new features that offer users the ability to get tasks done in a way that they could not before. And the new equipment increases the diversity of partners, handset lineup. But not only showcase to demonstrate how Microsoft plans to address the biggest challenge to deal with Windows Phone - Apple and Google.
