Mango for WIndows Phone 7 Adds Multitasking and Voice Command

Windows Phone 7 will become Windows Phone 7.5 as soon as the Mango update to the operating system completes it's launch over the coming months. It's the first major upgrade since Windows Phone 7 launched last year and there are hundreds of new features available in the new version.

We looked around and saw that smartphones were largely becoming application launchers, and consumers were left to navigate a sea of icons and a grid of apps,Andy Lees, president of Microsoft's Windows Phone Division said in a statement.

We looked to build all the core things that consumers want to do directly into the phone, and focus it all around people - not icons.

Groups is a new feature that allows people to lump co-workers or family together so all texts, emails and even social media activity from them can be in one place. Additionally, Mango allows easier use of switching between apps, so as not to slow things down or kill the battery. Apps are also grouped into categories to make it easier to navigate between them. Perhaps the best new function though is the voice recognition. Search the Web, speak text messages and have them read to you are all available with Mango, PC World's Tony Bradly said in a blog post. There's even a new Web marketplace for apps and the possibilty of Wi-Fi tethering that Microsoft hadn't hinted at before the launch.

Microsoft only sells about three percent of the smartphones out there, but their purchase of Motorola in August 2011 and the HTC launch of two Mango phones in Asia could be a step in the right direction. The Window's Phone Marketplace also should help to bring some developers into the fold, as Microsoft also lags behind Apple and Android in that category. One fun app called Scout it Out uses geolocation to find out what's close by to eat or where to shop, the type of function that young hip users could gravitate to.

If you have a Window's Phone, tell us if you've gotten the update yet in the comments section.