Last night, Microsoft kicked off Mobile World Congress by giving people a glimpse of what the rest of the year will bring for Windows Phone 7. Among the updates are several new features, a booming app marketplace, and the integration of even more Microsoft products with the phone.
We’ve summed up the key highlights and stats below for your quick reference. For more information on Microsoft at MWC, please visit Microsoft’s News Center to view the press release or visit the Windows Phone blog. You can also follow the action at MWC via Microsoft’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
Microsoft announced several new Windows Phone 7 features coming in 2011, including a “dramatically enhanced” browser experience based on Internet Explorer 9; additional multitasking capabilities; support for Microsoft Office documents in the cloud; and the addition of Twitter to the People Hub. The expanded capabilities announced today include:
- Copy and paste functionality via first major update, coming in the first two weeks of March
- Twitter integration directly into the People Hub in 2011
- Support for Office documents in the cloud in 2011
- Dramatically enhanced Web browser experience based on IE9 in 2011
- A new wave of multitasking applications in 2011
- Targeting significant volume of Nokia Windows Phones in 2012
Microsoft sold 2 million phone licenses in Windows Phone 7’s first two months, and the phone is now available from 60 mobile operators in 30 countries around the world. As phone availability and sales grow, so too does the app marketplace – with now more than 8,000 apps in the marketplace and 28,000 registered developers.
A technology preview from Microsoft Games Studios is also available here showing the connection of Windows Phone 7 and Kinect for XBox 360.