Microsoft intros next version of OS: Mango

SEATTLE, USA: Microsoft Wednesday showcased the next major release of its superior version of operating system for smartphones -- code named Mango.

"Mango will deliver more than 500 new features to push the boundaries of the smartphone experience around communications, apps and the internet," the company said in a statement.

The operating system will be provided for free to the existing Windows Phone 7 users and is scheduled to ship on new phones beginning this autumn season.

"Seven months ago we started our mission to make smartphones smarter and easier for people to do more," said Andy Lees, president, mobile communications business, Microsoft.

"With Mango, windows phone takes a major step forward in redefining how people communicate and use apps and the internet, giving you better results with less effort," he added.

Owing to the multiple applications and accounts used by customers from calls, texts, email and instant messages to status updates, smartphone experience becomes complicated.

In order to keep customers away from that growing complexity, Mango organizes information around the person -- or group -- people want to interact with, not the application they have to use.

On Mango, customers will be able to enjoy following features:

-- Threads: Switch between text, Facebook chat and Windows Live Messenger within the same conversation.

-- Groups: Group contacts into personalized live tiles to see the latest status updates right from the start screen and quickly send a text, email to the whole group.

-- Deeper social network integration: Twitter and LinkedIn feeds are now integrated into contact cards, and Mango includes built-in Facebook check-ins and new face detection software that makes it easier to quickly tag photos and post to the web.

-- Hands-free messaging: Built-in voice-to-text and text-to-voice support enables hands-free texting or chatting.

Microsoft recently announced partnership with Nokia and said that Mango will further expand and strengthen the windows phone ecosystem through new partnerships with Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE Corp., which today announced plans to deliver new Windows Phone devices in markets around the world.

The company also announced that it will support additional languages, including Brazilian Portuguese, simplified and traditional Chinese, Czech, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese and Swedish, and will expand the list of countries where consumers have access to applications through Windows Phone Marketplace.