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The first Nokia phones with Microsoft’s
Windows Phone operating
system will be fleshed out further this summer, and they’ll have the latest
version of the
software, Mango,
on board. Redmond bigwig Achim Berg announced the news at the launch of the software today in London.
We’ve been salivating over the prospect of Nokia hardware running Windows Phone since the two companies officially joined forces in February. Images of colourful Nokia prototypes whetted our appetites further.
Although Microsoft was tight-lipped about Nokia’s plans for its software at today’s launch, Berg confirmed that at least some of our curiosity will be sated by the end of the summer.
We’ll probably have to wait several months after that, however, to actually see the Nokias on shelves. The update to Windows Phone Mango won’t be ready until the autumn, according to Berg, so we expect the Finnish phones will hold off until then.
Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE will also be making Mango phones, which should bring some cheaper options to the pricey pack already led by HTC, Samsung, LG and Dell.
Mango will bring more than a fruity
feel to upcoming Windows
Phone handsets. It also brings multi-tasking, pictured above, which will allow you to
hop
between apps by holding down your phone’s back button.
The refreshed OS also features a new
version of Internet
Explorer that Microsoft says is identical to the version that runs on
your
desktop computer.
“It will not be similar to a PC,”
said Berg during
today’s press conference, “it will be exactly the same. It will use
exactly the same code.”
The implication is that the fully fledged browser should render pages more accurately than a mobile browser. It should also be easier for Web developers to code for.
Mango adds some social-networking treats too. Twitter and LinkedIn join Facebook on the phone, so you can see your mates’ updates straight from your address book. You will also be able to group together contacts from multiple sources — Facebook and Gmail, for example. Once they’re thrown together, you can text or email them all at once.
If you already have a Windows Phone
mobile — and let’s face
it, who hasn’t? — Mango will come as a free automatic update, starting
this
autumn.
Update: We’ve updated our story to clarify that Microsoft can’t promise that we’ll see Nokia’s Windows Phones launched this summer, but we will hear more details of the companies’ plans for the phones.
