In New York earlier today, Microsoft held a VIP preview for its upcoming Windows Phone “Mango” update, which will hit devices this fall. Journalists weren’t allowed to touch the phones, but we were given hands-on demos from representatives. This video shows new features like the updated version of Office and multitasking. Another cool feature is that, like Android, if you open a file or Web page that requires a separate app like Flash or Adobe Reader, Windows Phone will make it easy to download that app from the Marketplace.
While we must withhold most judgement until we’re able to test these features out for ourselves, many of the new WP7 features, like these, seem very natural upgrades to the smartphone operating system and all appear to have a common goal: Simplifying and speeding up common tasks like switching between apps and opening documents.
If you’d like to learn more about WP7 Mango, please check out the full recap of today’s announcements. We also posted a quick picture gallery of the event and a video demo of more features like contact groups, Bing Vision, Quick Cards, indoor maps, and Local Scout–Microsoft’s version of Google Places.
