Windows Phone 7 Mango OS Unveiled at the MIX 11

Microsoft unveiled Mango OS and shared some new features planned for the next update at the MIX 11 conference in Las Vegas . With the Windows Phone 7  being the center of attention, the company gave a glimpse into some of the features coming this Fall in the Windows Phone 7 “Mango” update, the next major update to its mobile platform.

A big addition is the management of multitasking for third party applications, giving the user the possibility of leaving applications running in the background, allowing apps to play music, download and transfer files, which might take the Windows Phone 7 to the next level. 

According to Joe Belfiore, the goal is to save the battery and does not require the user to manage the running tasks. An SDK will be landing in beginning of May, developers will also find a direct access to APIs of APN and sensors, to create new generations of applications.

Microsoft is also planning on a deeper phone integration so developers can take better advantage of the Live Tiles, Metro user-interface controls and custom ringtones. Mango will include a mobile version of IE 9 that will be based on the same code base as IE 9 for the Windows PC. A demonstration of key hardware acceleration for Internet Explorer 9 on Windows was presented, and tested on iOS, and Android Phones. The results were promising.

Some of the new applications that will be available in the Marketplace for download will be Skype, Amazon, Spotify, Layar, Qantas Airways, Kik and WhatsApp .