At Microsoft's annual TechEd conference for developers and IT pros, Microsoft shared some of the new capabilities that will be available in the next version of Windows Phone - codenamed "Mango" and slated for release later this year.
At TechEd Microsoft highlighted a number of new capabilities designed to help users stay productive on the go.
According to the company's executives that talked at the Atlanta event, "Mango is designed to make users even more productive right out-of-the-box - helping them stay connected with the people and information that are most important to them." For instance, Office Hub helps bring together Office documents like Word, Excel, One Note, and PowerPoint in one place. In Mango, Microsoft is adding the ability to save and share Office documents through Office 365 and Windows Live SkyDrive, ensuring users have access to the latest documents when and where they need them.
During the TechEd keynote today Microsoft also showed a range of additional capabilities in Mango. These include:
- Pinnable email folders: Pin a folder to the start screen for quick access. This could be an email folder for a specific project, from a specific group or person (like your boss), or an RSS feed a users has set up in Outlook.
- Conversation view in email: Emails in a user's inbox are organized by conversation, bringing replies to a thread into a consolidated view so it's faster and easier to stay on top of the conversation.
- Threaded email, coming in the next version of Windows Phone, makes it easeir to keep track of who said what. The next version of Windows Phone also makes it possible to read rights-managed emails.
- Server search: Users will be able to search their email server (e.g. Exchange Server) for older emails no longer stored on their phone, giving them ready access to all of their mail.
- Lync: Lync Mobile brings the Lync experience to Windows Phone users by delivering Unified Communications capabilities, including instant messaging and the ability to see the presence of their co-workers. The Lync app will be a free download from Windows Phone Marketplace and will be enabled with support from users' business organizations.
In addition to helping users stay productive, Mango also includes new capabilities for IT. These incude features such as complex (alpha-numeric) password support, Information Rights Management support for protecting e-mails and Office documents, and support for access to hidden corporate Wi-Fi networks.
Microsoft expects the apps available in the Windows Phone Marketplace exceed 16,000 apps this week.