Windows Phone 7.1 Review

Microsoft Windows Phone has enjoyed moderate success till now and the future looks very promising as the Redmond giant has promised myriad new features in the upcoming Mango update which will bump the Windows Phone version to 7.1. This is contrary to the rumors earlier which suggested that the next update will be called 7.5. So, let us take a quick glance at the features packed in the upcoming update.

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Mango, i.e, Windows Phone 7.1 update will make every thing much better.

1) Live Tiles will be allowed to display much more information now. For example, if you want to check what your wife or girlfriend is doing right now, you can do that by pinning their contact to the home screen.

2) Multitasking: This is the feature that most people have been asking for. While I am not looking forward to do multitasking on my Windows Phone, I am sure many of you will be exited to know that Mango update will allow you to handle multiple apps at the same time. To change between applications, just press and hold the back button and you will the running apps as cards – similar to webOS.

3) People Hub: Now, you will be able to group and categorise the contacts. For example: You will be able to make a group containing your best friends or enemies, if you one of those who like to fight, like me. Other enhancements include linkedIn and Live Messenger integration which were missing till now.

4) More shortcuts: You will now be able to pull a group of contact into the live tiles for more convenience. This will also show their updates from all the social networking sites (which includes Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Live Messenger). Here you will also find shortcuts for sending emails, texts, emails and IMs.

5) Unified Inbox: Just like iOS, you will now be able to pull emails from all accounts and manage them from one inbox. You will also be able to search emails which are not stored on your phone.

6) Bing: Yes, Bing is there on your good ‘ol Windows Phone but the one which I am talking about is the improved version of Bing. You will be able to read barcodes, QR codes or Tags (without the need of Microsoft Tags app). Also, you will no longer require Shazam as Bing will be able to identify the song being played in your background. Other Bing-related enhancements include deeper app connect integration. For example: if you search for a movie in Bing, it will automatically open the IMDB app (if installed, of course) after you select that movie from the search results.

7) Custom ringtones: I am officially bored of the pre-installed set of ringtones. Yes, the NoDo update for my Mozart did add new ringtones but I was still not allowed to set Randy Orton’s Voices song as ringtone. Fear not as Mango will solve it. Note – You can enjoy custom ringtones on your windows phone by following this tutorial. I am just not into developer unlocking my windows phone and that is why I cannot perform that hack.

8) Improved IE: Internet Explorer version will be bumped to v9 with Mango release. Microsoft is claiming that the rendering speed is faster than any mobile web browser, thanks to the use of GPU for displaying content which speeds up various processes. Also, with mobile IE9, you will be able to type in URLs while in landscape mode.

Windows Phone 7.1 (again not WP7.5) update will be made available to all existing WP7 smartphones free of cost. New devices from Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE will be making their debut this autumn season. Nokia has already partnered with Microsoft and they have promised that we will be seeing phones preloaded with Mango update before the end of this year.

Indeed, future looks very exiting for the Windows Phone and its universe.

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Category : WP7