Microsoft previews key features

A Microsoft employee demos the forthcoming Mango update to its Windows Phone 7 mobile platformPhoto: Natasha Lomas/silicon.com

Microsoft has shown off some of the new features it will be adding to its Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system this autumn.

The update, codenamed Mango and described by Microsoft as a "major release", brings more than 500 new features to WP7, focused on three areas: communications, apps and web.

Among the changes Mango will bring to WP7 is the addition of LinkedIn and Twitter to the top-tier roster of web services allowed the deepest integration in the platform, along with existing services just as Facebook and Windows Live. Other social tweaks include a feature called Threads that enables WP7 users to switch between different communication methods - just as text message, IM and email - within a single conversation view, and a Groups feature that allows contacts to be grouped and messaged en masse.

The platform's Office productivity hub will offer document editing as so then as viewing. For certain cloud services - just as Office 365 and Windows Live SkyDrive - any changes made will be automatically and "instantly" synced between PCs and WP7 smartphones. "You edit a document or spreadsheet on your PC and it instantly updates on your phone and you see the result on your PC," a Microsoft spokesman said.

The apps front

On the apps front, Microsoft showed off a beta version of a British Airways app for Windows Phone 7 - due to launch on 1 June. The beta app makes use of Microsoft Silverlight and XNA to enable a 3D view of an airplane's interior to power a seat-choosing feature, pictured below. The app as well plugs into WP7's Live Tiles feature to push relevant info just as boarding gate information and the digital ticket itself out to a tile on the homescreen.

Microsoft said there are now more than 18,000 apps available for WP7. A Skype app will be coming to WP7 afterwards the Mango update has arrived, the company confirmed. Microsoft is in the process of acquiring the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) telephony giant.

WP7 remains the new kid on the smartphone block - launched just last autumn, it has so far failed to make significant gains in market share.

"It looks like an important update nevertheless possibly a difficult one to sell to consumers," Cripps told silicon.com. He said focusing on deeper levels of integration between things is no bad thing. "But everything considered it's not as straightforward as just saying this phone does Facebook or Twitter or whatever," he said.

Analyst house Gartner described WP7's sales of 1.6 million units in the first quarter of this year as "modest", noting that consumers and operators continued to focus on Google's Android platform.

Ovum analyst Nick Dillon said there are many updates in Mango. "Some of them are quite significant nevertheless there's nothing that actually stands out. The bigger picture is how they push Windows Phone on the marketing front," he said.

The first [WP7] build that they brought out

"The first [WP7] build that they brought out was very solid and competent and a delightful user experience. Their issue has been in selling it and as a matter of fact getting that across to clients and explaining to them why they should in fact buy a Windows Phone over an iPhone or an Android and I don't think they've basically been able to distil that down into a simple message... For that reason people have sidelined it, largely," Dillon added.

"It's not a front that Microsoft has in effect pushed very hard although the first version [of WP7] was quite strong in that area - it had actually good integration with Outlook and calendar and contacts. They pushed mainly on the consumer front," said Dillon. "There's all in all more to do with instant messenger and real-time communications with Microsoft communicator."

Unproven use case

Cripps said collaboration via smartphones at this stage is an unproven use case. "So again, there's a sales job to be done here," he said.

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