Hasta La Gadget!

Just how big of an upgrade will the Mango release of Windows Phone be? Try “500 new features” big. Steve Ballmer revealed that seductively round number in a speech over in Japan today, where he also said that additional information about “who’s going to be building Windows Phones” will be forthcoming at tomorrow’s preview event as well. Combine that with an otherwise unsubstantiated rumor (more coverage link below) about Microsoft showing nine new Windows Phone handsets tomorrow, and it does seem like there’ll be fresh hardware to go with the ripening software. Neither the Mango release nor any devices on show will be coming to market any time soon, mind you, but it’s nice to think we’ll get to see what the future of Windows Phone will look like in physical as well as digital form.

Update: We have confirmation from a reliable source that tomorrow’s event will be entirely focused on the software, not the hardware. So, anybody looking for a flotilla of new handsets to be deployed had best get their favorite crying pillow handy.

Continue reading Steve Ballmer promises ‘over 500’ new features in Mango, teases new WP handsets (updated)

Steve Ballmer promises ‘over 500’ new features in Mango, teases new WP handsets (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 May 2011 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  WMPoweruser  | Email this | Comments

When Microsoft takes the stage May 24th to preview the next release of Windows Phone, will there be any surprises left for the peanut gallery? In the last week we’ve seen numerous features announced or leaked, an awfully big coincidence given the timing of next week’s event. More cats were let out of their bags today at Microsoft’s annual TechEd conference keynote, as several enterprise-related capabilities were shown off that both companies and consumers have sorely missed on their phones.

First up are pinnable email folders, giving users the opportunity to pin a specific folder of higher priority — such as emails from your boss or wife — to your start screen. Toss in email threads complete with conversation view, and now Mango is looking even more drool-worthy. But there’s more, folks: Exchange users frustrated by online having access to recent correspondence can look forward to server search — a new function that’ll enable you to sift through your entire email collection if need be. Rounding out the grocery list of new updates is Lync support, complex alpha-numeric passcodes for higher security, Information Rights Management support, and — hallelujah — the ability to connect to hidden WiFi networks natively. About time, right? Take a peek at the full breakdown of the new features at the source link.

Update: Now with video, after the break!

Continue reading Microsoft outlines new enterprise features coming to Windows Phone ‘Mango’

Microsoft outlines new enterprise features coming to Windows Phone ‘Mango’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 14:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink WMPowerUser  |  Windows Phone Blog  | Email this | Comments

Microsoft delivered a big batch of mobile happiness at its annual MIX developers’ conference this morn, promising a host of major features including multitasking, background audio, push notifications and raw sensor data (not to mention over 1500 new APIs) in the next version of Windows Phone. Of course, it’s one thing to tell you how pumped attending developers might be to bite into a nice juicy mango next month and another to see for yourself, so feast your eyes on the best of Windows Phone Next in the video above. Not bad, eh?

Sean Hollister contributed to this report.

This is Windows Phone Next — developers take notes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Looking for your fibrous dose of gadget leak? Look no further than China which has, again and again, outed several spy shots of what appears to be the Xperia X10 Mini Pro’s successor. Dubbed the SK17i and codenamed “Mango,” this time we’re looking at some proof of Android 2.3 on this little Sony Ericsson slider, along with a homescreen UI not dissimilar to that of the X10 Mini and X8 series. Other than that, we’re not seeing anything new here, though we can’t help but wonder if the unused Xperia Duo trademark has finally found its rightful owner — you know, maybe Duo as in a two-part slider phone? As always, only time will tell.

[Thanks, @Tehpriest]

Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro successor spotted as SK17i, sports Gingerbread originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phandroid  |  IT168  | Email this | Comments

One manufacturer who has not boarded on the Windows Phone train to commerceville is Acer, who is certainly all over when it comes to Android. Why no WP7 love? No word on that front, but we’re told that may be changing this fall. The company is reportedly looking at releasing one or more handsets for the platform to coincide with the first major Windows Phone update, currently given the saucy nom de guerre “Mango.” That’s right about when we’re expecting our first Nokia WP7 handsets, which means things could be getting interesting in Microsoftia this September.

Acer jumping on the Windows Phone 7 bandwagon this fall? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 05:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink phoneArena.com  |  Pocket-lint  | Email this | Comments