Microsoft showcase new ‘Mango’ phone

Microsoft have showcased the new ‘Mango' edition of their Windows Phone platform in Tokyo.

The phone is the first in a new range of products which will be released between now and the end of the year and Microsoft are hoping that the new range will help drive sales in the mobile market. Their hopes for mobile market dominance have yet to happen.

While the raft of new Windows Phone 7 devices have been received well by the press and public, the sales figures are yet to make a serious impact in the scene, dominated by Apple and Android devices. According to the latest reports, Microsoft are actually still losing market share which is causing some concern within the company.

Even Steve Ballmer, the (generally) positively outspoken Microsoft CEO said “We've gone from very small to….very small.” as their marketshare claimed only 2.7 percent in the first quarter of 2011.

Mango, adds 500 improvements to the operating system including a threads feature which pulls together instant messages, texting and Facebook chat for easy viewing. Internet Explorer 9 is also included, to improve browsing performance and capabilities. They have also tuned their email software to work in a ‘conversation' view format, which should be similar to the latest Apple iOS style of messaging.

Microsoft are working with partners to develop and release Mango handsets later this year and obviously much of the public attention will be on Nokia, who are now one of Microsoft's key partners.

The new handset, the Fujisu Toshiba IS12T phone has a 3.7 inch screen with a whopping 13.2 megapixel camera. The battery life is claimed to be more than 11 days on standby and it also includes Wi-Fi and BlueTooth support.

Kitguru says: Is this enough for Microsoft (and Nokia) to gain more ground?

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