Windows Phone Mango to be released this “Christmas”?

Ron

Microsoft has repeatedly stated that the much anticipated update to Windows Phone 7, code-named Mango, would be released this fall. Now, reports are suggesting that we will see this update around Christmas of this year.

In a recent event, Ballmer mentioned that Windows Phone 7.5 (aka Mango) would be released around Christmas time. “We have the second generation of our phones coming out this Christmas, and people are starting to do things they had never imagined before,” stated Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Ballmer did not indicate that there was a delay to the update, but his statement has confused a lot of people who were anticipating the fall release date.

Windows Phone 7.5 is expected to be a game changer for the Windows Phone platform, and Microsoft needs it as soon as possible to combat slouching sales. ‘Mango’ will feature an updated user interface with the intentions of “making it easier for the user to launch, to search, to find, to buy and to install” apps. The update will also feature a 25% improvement in memory efficiency and support for deep links into application content. We will also see a feature called Live Agents as well as better multitasking. IE9 will also be making an appearance in the update.

A beta version of Windows Phone 7.5 was released to developers on June 29th.

This idea could also suggest that we may see the update around December and not necessarily on the 25th. One can also argue that Ballmer was merely mentioning that new smartphones would be released with Mango preloaded. Whatever the case may be, we will keep you updated as this story develops.