Microsoft has reiterated that it will announce the next version of the Windows Phone 7, which will add many more capabilities to the smartphone operating system, soon.
Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore, during his keynote at MIX 2011 in Las Vegas (Microsoft’s annual conference for web and App developers), showed off some popular new apps like Angry bird, on the way for the phone.
He also previewed some under-the-hood capabilities coming in the next version of Windows Phone that should open the door to all kinds of creative new apps.
Mango, as the new updates called by Microsoft, will introduce some new features, including multitasking capability, a hardware-accelerated mobile version of Internet Explorer 9, Twitter in the People hub, better support for Office documents in SkyDrive (Microsoft’s free cloud-based storage service), and more.
Windows Phone 7 users can expect these updates to arrive on their devices over the next few months.
“Mango,” will also introduce augmented reality features to the smartphones’ cameras.
While Mango’s ultimate release date remains unclear, Angry Birds will apparently make an appearance in May, according to Microsoft. Skype and a Spotify music application will roll out in an autumn timeframe.
Mango introduces Windows Phone 7’s version of multitasking, allowing smartphones to download new applications and content in the background, and stream music via one application while working in another.
Microsoft is also preparing updated Windows Phone Developer Tools, expected to be released in May, which will theoretically allow for the creation of more integrated and high-performance applications.