Microsoft Details Mango Update Scheduled for Fall This Year

During the MIX 2011 conference, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore detailed the next major update for Windows Phone in the Mango update, which includes true multitasking support, Internet Explorer 9, Twitter support in the People Hub, and improved support for Office documents in SkyDrive. The update will be released this fall. Microsoft also demonstrated new applications, such as Skype, Spotify, and Layar, that take advantage of new software developer tools that will be released soon and will give developers the opportunity to tap into a WP7 device’s hardware such as cameras, gyroscopes and other sensors to support augmented reality applications.

In related news, Belfiore also addressed the handling of the first major Windows Phone update in NoDo, stating that Microsoft learned a great deal from the myriad issues that arose from both the pre update and the official NoDo update. As a result, select WP7 devices, such as the Samsung Focus and the rest of the AT&T WP7 lineup have yet to officially receive the NoDo update. Below, quotes from Belfiore courtesy of Reuters regarding the update issues.

"We had expected it to be earlier than now," "We felt it would be better to be a little bit patient, make sure that when we get updates out that they would happen reliably, and unfortunately that caused a delay in getting things out,"

There is still no official word on when the AT&T Windows Phone 7 lineup will receive NoDo, as carriers are still allowed to skip major updates should they be found to cause issues and Mango will not be released until later this year.