NEW YORK — Microsoft previewed new features in its upcoming software update for Windows Phone 7 here Tuesday. Code-named “Mango,” the update focuses on streamlining different forms of wireless communication.
Microsoft highlighted the “People” hub in Mango, an all-in-one contacts list with tight Facebook integration that allows users to text, call, e-mail, IM or tweet at people on their contacts list.
Microsoft’s sales pitch: By making it easier to contact friends and family in the People hub, customers can spend less time fiddling with apps and get straight to communicating. In other words, it’s the less-antisocial smartphone.
“We wanted to provide the customer with less clutter, more clarity,” said Andy Lees, president of Microsoft’s mobile-communications business at a press conference. “This builds upon our mission to make the smartphone smarter and easier. With Windows Phone Mango, we’re taking a people-centric approach to communications.”
Other new features Microsoft previously announced for Mango were multitasking, copy-and-paste and multimedia messaging.
Microsoft has been searching for a path forward in the mobile space, lest it fall further behind Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android operating system, which have surged to a lead in the booming smartphone market. The company originally launched Windows Phone 7 in November 2010 on handsets built by manufacturers including HTC, Samsung and LG.
In order to differentiate itself from the likes of Apple and Google, Microsoft officials said the company is pursuing a strategy that seeks to integrate mobile applications with the operating system.
The new software emphasizes tight integration with Facebook, of which Microsoft is a minority owner; Bing, Redmond’s search engine; and Skype, the web-telephony pioneer Microsoft recently purchased for $8.5 billion.
“Think of your applications as musical instruments,” Lees said. “With Mango, they finally become part of an orchestra, with a conductor. With Windows Phone 7, applications are alive as part of the total experience.”
Mango will be available for Windows Phone 7 customers as a free update beginning this fall, Lees said, adding that the software is already live on not-yet-public handsets built by Nokia.
Microsoft is releasing the API immediately, to allow developers to create applications for the software.
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