Microsoft has released update to it’s Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS

The first reason to write this post is the news that “many people still don’t know Windows Phone 7 exists“. Meantime Microsoft has released the update to Windows Phone 7.5. We’ve been waiting this till May, and the reasons that MS main focus was on “communications, apps, and internet”.

Here is the first look into Windows Phone 7.5 Mango with the video and great description…

It’s from CNET post “Windows Phone 7.5 Mango review: Up to speed“. Please see it for detailed description of all and more features listed below.

Here is some features that are really important for developers and can be considered if not as advantages of WP7 as moving it closer to competitors.

Apps

Microsoft’s Marketplace has rocketed to 30,000 apps since it was launched. It’s in dozen times less than at “other” app stores, but continuously grow. “Microsoft’s plan for integrating apps into other areas of the phone attempts to help you make more of the programs you’ve already got.”, say Jessica Dolcourt, editor at CNet.

Search

The most interesting features of search are Local Scout, music search, Bing Vision, and voice search. Bing Vision is a visual search app that mashes up traditional bar code readers with image-identification software. Yes, it was announced in other mobile OS’s but it’s really look very cool.

Internet Explorer

The upgrade from a browser based on Internet Explorer 7 to IE9 has been fairly subtle.
All developers knows the troubles in IE7 with the page’s rendering. We believe that it’s a big plus to support web-pages only for modern browsers. IE’s ability to share articles and such with social networks like Twitter and Facebook is another welcome feature

Office Hub

CNET credits on this: “There’s quite a bit of added functionality in Mango, including the ability to share and store documents through Office 365 and Windows Live SkyDrive cloud services using the new Locations pane. The Lync Mobile app in Windows Marketplace works with Office 365 to turn on corporate IM and other tools.”

Voice-to-text

Voice commands were always part of Windows Phone 7, but Mango lets you compose a text message and instant message with just your voice.

Goodies

The list of all goodies

• Visual voice mail—Carrier dependent, official announcements to come
• Wireless mobile hot-spot support–Carrier dependent, official announcements to come
• Front-facing camera—Carrier dependent, official announcements to come
• Hardware Search button always takes you to Bing
• Bing maps get audible read-outs for directions
• Map shows saved favorites; can rotate orientation based on direction
• Indoor maps for malls, airports
• Custom ringtones (sync your own)
• View multiple calendars in one
• Calendar items can build to-do list
• Access camera gallery when phone is locked
• Podcast search and subscription
• Share videos in e-mail or upload to Facebook or Windows Live
• Video player skips ahead or goes back to any point in a clip
• Less robotic automated voice in voice-to-text interaction
• Marketplace links to reinstall apps

We believe this information helps to develop more apps and to use Windows Phone OS in Enterprise needs.