Ballmer: Over 500 New Features in WP7.5
During the Japanese Microsoft Developers Forum on Monday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told a captive audience that the big "Mango" update planned for Windows Phone 7 will add over 500 features. He wouldn't go into specific details, leaving the Big Reveal for the New York City press event scheduled for Tuesday. Instead, he teased a possibility that Skype may be integrated into the next update.
"We have a release that will come to market later this year -- not only is it a new release that is much more global, but we've added over 500 new features to Windows Phone," said Ballmer. "That information will be forthcoming, including some of the particulars about who is going to be building Windows Phone and which carriers will be offering them in Japan."
The "Mango" update will reportedly bring the Windows Phone OS to v7.5 and provide support for multitasking, the addition of Internet Explorer 9, and better integration with Microsoft Office. Other features will include Twitter support for People Hub, an enhanced email client with better search options and email threading, means to create homescreen "tiles" from any application feature or page, and more.
"We're pushing for a different approach to user interface design, an approach which -- literally right on the homescreen of the Windows Phone -- you, our developers, can provide integrated experiences across your own and third-party applications that are alive and vibrant and real time for our joint customers," he said.
There's also a good chance Skype will be integrated into the "Mango" update. "Skype is the most popular software on the planet for people who want to do real-time video connections in addition to being very important in helping people do voice and other real-time communications," he said. "And we want to connect that up for business and consumer to all parts of the planet and continue to transform the future of communication."
Ballmer also admitted that the Windows Phone operating system arrived a year too late, saying "shame on us." Microsoft is seemingly having a hard time competing against Android and iOS, as according to numbers provided by Gartner, only 1.6 million of the 100 million smartphones sold worldwide in Q1 2011 were powered by Microsoft's Windows Phone OS.
"We're moving forward very actively," he assured the audience. That indeed seems to be the case if "Mango" really does offer over 500 additions to the mobile OS. Expect to hear more details and a possible launch date during Tuesday's press event.
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#glassishalfempty: That shows how many were missing from WP7
every day I see a picture of Ballmer, he becomes more and more monkey like!
ape like even!
WP7 will be an easier recommendation as an alternative once they get Mango devices on the market. I personally don't have one, but there's a lot of things about it I like. It just is missing a few important features, and Mango seems to address all of the issues I had with it. There are some (incomplete) Mango feature lists floating around, if you want more info.
Then again there are a lot of things I like about WebOS too, but Palm (and later HP) screwed the pooch on that one. They should have sold WebOS as an OS, instead of tying it to only Palm devices (and now HP). That would have helped them with hardware refreshes. They also should have been more aggressive about software refreshes.
I hope that (at least) most current Windows 7 Phones can update to Win Phone 7.5.
Possible Skype integration sounds quite intriguing.
#glassishalfempty: That shows how many were missing from WP7
iPhone didn't have support for the most primitive features in the world for quite some time. Like MMS - stuff dumbphones could do. Android wasn't all that much better off at launch.
I'm not bashing iPhone or Android here. My point is that missing features isn't nearly as important as "does it work well". Given a limited amount of time and iteration, they had to prioritize core functionality. You can add features later, but first you must have a solid foundation on which to build. Apple did the same thing, and even Android to some extent.
Is one of those features a Linux kernel?
I have yet to try WP7, I was turned off by the look of the UI but I keep hearing people who really like the way it works. Off topic but I think Microsoft should buy Nokia as a standalone division. Since the deal they have dropped the value of the company. Since 2007 the stock has fallen 65% to a $30B market cap. Or at least do a Microsoft Phone like the Nexus S.
500 new features? *sigh* I just want 20 features that work, not having to fight through hundreds of half-arsed ones to get to what I want to do.
alright, 10 new fonts x 26 letters... that's 260 new features right there.
500 must be a bit of a stretch.
I'm waiting for Ubuntu Phone 11.11. Consider how much easier it should be to create a phone OS than a desktop one is it just a matter of time before we get this?
After a 2 year contract with another dumb phone I upgraded recently. I used iPhone, Android and WP7 from friends, shops, read reviews and spent about 6 months making my choice.
In the end I got a WP7 and I have not been disappointed, it does exactly what I expect and now they are giving me more, about 90% of which I probably won't use but it's good to know it's there.
Samsung Omnia 7, the hardware is very good but it is the OS that really impresses me.
After a 2 year contract with another dumb phone I upgraded recently. I used iPhone, Android and WP7 from friends, shops, read reviews and spent about 6 months making my choice.In the end I got a WP7 and I have not been disappointed, it does exactly what I expect and now they are giving me more, about 90% of which I probably won't use but it's good to know it's there.Samsung Omnia 7, the hardware is very good but it is the OS that really impresses me.
Same here, but I have the Focus. My best friend's iPhone is nice but I don't want to deal with iTunes and my only experience with Android has been sluggish touch functions and crashes. I needed a phone that worked, not necessarily the best phone with the best feature set.
And man have I used that free office integration. I wrote like a 60 page story (when transfered to desktop Word said it was 60 pages) on that sucker when waiting for classes. Haven't used Xbox live too much yet cuz I'm waiting for Plants vs Zombies. But my user experience has been flawless for the most part.
every day I see a picture of Ballmer, he becomes more and more monkey like!
ape like even!
There's an ape for that?
This should be an important update, and it should boost the functionality of the phones that support it. I hope the security of the OS has been improved.
There's an ape for that?
Sure, at the Ape Store
when mango gets 5% of the market, I'll start looking at it.
To all the spammers above and below, I just got my chief of watch badge, I will hunt you for fun now
To all the spammers above and below, I just got my chief of watch badge, I will hunt you for fun now
Can we watch? (popcorn)
#glassishalfempty: That shows how many were missing from WP7
Of course iOS and Android had Skype at the point of release and haven't had about a million updates since then have they
No......
/sarcasm
Can we watch? (popcorn)
Of course.
A preview: Serious Sam the Second Encounter, the Grand Kathedral
Like that
Has anyone counted how many features there are on his smartphone? 500 seem a lot. And we're talking about only new features. It's like a whole new OS put on top of an old OS.
if they take WP7 as serious as they took Win7 for PC, they will indeed have a shakeup in the smartphone sector.
SO..... Win Mobile = XP Not the best, but got the job done.
WP7 = Vista Pretty, but a lot of problems
WP7.5 = Win 7?
Has anyone counted how many features there are on his smartphone? 500 seem a lot. And we're talking about only new features. It's like a whole new OS put on top of an old OS.
Well Mango is 7.1, I believe. So it's possible that 7.5 will have a crapton of new features. Granted, many of them may be minor tweaks, but its good to see them hard at work on WP7. A lot of what is being developed here could also translate over to a future tablet variant of Win8 for ARM.