great work guys love the mango coverage , some great new features are on its way. Lets hope we get the update in time and it does not drag out on the samsung devices like the NoDo update
http://www.bestwp7games.com
Just about a year ago I posted my Windows Phone 7 guide on the technical preview and since then I have posted many articles on this operating system, the hardware, and the tens of thousands of available applications. I have been using Windows Phone 7.5 (aka Mango) on a Samsung Focus for several days and as you can read in this guide to Windows Phone 7.5, Microsoft took some major steps forward in a year and is showing why they are serious about joining Apple and Google as one of the premier mobile phone operating systems. Some even believe Windows Phone will be in 2nd place by 2013 or 2015, but if you read my blog on a regular basis you know I don’t put much credence in these outlandish long term forecasts in a market that moves way too fast to accurately predict. All I know for sure is that Mango is very good and combined with Nokia hardware Microsoft has a compelling argument for smartphone leadership.
One of the great things about the Mango update is that it will be coming for FREE to all existing Windows Phone 7 devices so people should feel confident about buying devices now. In many cases you can pick up hardware for free with a new contract. Granted, there will be updated hardware released when Mango hits the street, but from what I have seen so far with Mango on existing hardware it runs as well as Windows Phone 7. I personally have an HTC HD7 and Dell Venue Pro, but will be upgrading to a Nokia Windows Phone when I can because I want a WP device with a decent camera.
Check out my image gallery for some screenshots of WP 7.5 on a Samsung Focus. You can also see some Microsoft videos and my own sprinkled throughout this article as I touch on the new features. Make sure to also check out Bonnie Cha’s image gallery for more WP 7.5 goodness.
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| Image Gallery: Check out a few screenshots of Windows Phone Mango on a Samsung Focus. |  |
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What’s been missing in Windows Phone 7?
After using Windows Phone 7 for nearly a year, I am still a fan and enjoy using the platform. The Marketplace has taken off and as I just wrote about last week the final of my 5 key apps is now available. Applications are no longer really an issue for me, but there is some other functionality I do miss when compared to Android and iOS devices. Some of these issues, such as copy and paste, were fixed with the NoDo update.
Lack of full 3rd party application multi-tasking, native multi-tasking was already included, was something missing in Windows Phone along with Smart DJ, voice guided navigation, Twitter integration, Wi-Fi hotspot tethering, photo tagging, and more. Not all of these are currently present in this preview version as there are backend services that need to be enabled and some features are not quite ready for such a public trial.
Microsoft improves upon and adds these and hundreds more features in Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango). As you will see they go beyond just these things we thought were missing and improve the OS in many other ways to truly have our phones doing the work for us to help make our lives better.
Improvements in Communications
Microsoft is taking an approach with Windows Phone Mango with three main focal points and as they state in some press materials, “Mango will take advantage of the unique way Windows Phone brings together people, information, and experiences to deliver smarter and easier communications, apps, and Internet.”
Let’s start off by checking out the improvements in communications. From the beginning Windows Phone has always focused on helping you get the things done you need through experiences rather than providing applications you can use to do these things. For example, in communications it is much more natural to think of the people you wish to communicate with in various ways rather than how you can use separate Twitter, Facebook, SMS, and email applications to then find people in those applications.
In Windows Phone 7 you could assign a Live tile to family and friends, but if you have a family of five like me or a ton of friends that you want to stay in touch with and follow on a regular basis you would end up with way too many Live tiles to have much benefit for you. Thankfully, Microsoft realized this and now lets you create Groups of people that result in a single Live tile on your Start screen with Live tiles embedded inside the Group. Mango comes with a family group to get started and the first time you tap on it you will be able to select from all others with your last name in your contact list to add to this group. There are three displays to swipe through in the panorama UI, including a page of group members’ Live tiles, a What’s New listing of status updates, and pictures from your group members. The Live tiles profile page shows dynamic tiles with status updates, profile pictures, and names with options at the bottom of the page to send a group email or text message. The What’s New page shows social networking updates (Twitter will be included when enabled) for group members. The Pictures page shows shared albums and photos that group members are tagged in. The Group tile that you pin to the Start screen dynamically changes to show you status updates, new text messages, email, voicemail, and more for people in your Group and this feature alone may be compelling enough to get people to purchase a Windows Phone Mango device.
Another slick communications feature I have been enjoying is Threads. Microsoft now combines text messaging, Windows Live Messenger, and Facebook chat all in the Messaging application so you can stay in touch with people seamlessly through different communications services without ever having to leave the Messaging application. It is cool how you can start chatting with someone via text messaging via your text messaging plan and then move to Facebook chat through a data connection, and then even into Live Messenger in such a seamless manner. You can see if a contact is online or offline (on Facebook chat and Live Messenger) and then switch to text messaging for communications if they are offline.
I always enjoy the Live tile of my wife above the fold on the Start screen and now Microsoft improves these contact tiles with more information, such as check-ins, status updates, photo updates, and more. Check-ins are supported with Facebook Places. Facebook Events are also added into the calendar, with some control provided for you to manage these events. Twitter and LinkedIn feeds will be integrated with Facebook and Windows Live, but these are not yet enabled in this technical preview version so I could not test them out. You can also tag photos in Facebook and Skydrive right from your Windows Phone device. Twitter integration will include tweet, re-tweet, comment, reply with @ mention, share web pages, and share photos. Viewing posts related to hashtags is also supported in Mango.
The email experience is excellent on Windows Phone. I mentioned before that I prefer to perform email triage with my WP device rather than with Outlook on my desktop. Microsoft is improving the email experience with linked inbox, conversation view, and expanded Exchange support. With the linked inbox feature you can decide to have separate inboxes for your email or choose to combine some or all of them, as you desire. You can even choose to link and unlink them as you desire so you have complete control over your email experience, unlike anything we have seen on the market yet. One reason I enjoy HTC Sense on Android is the excellent conversation view it provides with Exchange email and thankfully we see Microsoft providing this on Windows Phone, through all email clients and not just Exchange. Shoot, the conversation view in Gmail on Windows Phone Mango is better than Gmail on Android smartphones now.
Exchange improvements include the ability to read IRM emails, alpha-numeric PIN support, Out-of-office message setting, search the email server for messages, support for Tasks syncing, and view and sync multiple Exchange calendars on an account.
Microsoft also understands that hands-free communications is important to people so you can now listen and reply to text messages without taking out your phone or looking at the display.
