Windows Phone 7.5 Mango hands on review

It's almost a year since the first Windows Phone 7 devices arrived and, although the NoDo update added the much sought after copy and paste, it's the Mango upgrade that customers have been salivating over.

There are a number of key additions in Mango among the claimed 500 features, which could persuade business users to switch from iOS and Android. V3 has been testing Mango on an HTC 7 Trophy and here are our thoughts.

Design-wise, Microsoft has kept the same Live Tile interface introduced in the original operating system, but the tiles have been subtly improved to update faster and allow the pinning of multiple Live Tiles to the homescreen from a single app.

One of the most obvious upgrades is multi-tasking, which allows rapid switching between applications without having to close them. Holding down the 'back' key lets users move between the latest opened apps and resume from the exact place they left off.

Business features: Office 365, group creation, threaded conversation
Key additions include the ability to sign in to Microsoft Office 365 from a Windows Phone to access documents from the cloud service. Nine templates have been added to Mobile Office 2010, and downloading the Microsoft Lync Mobile app allows instant messaging on the move.

A great feature is the threaded message functionality built into messaging and Outlook. This means it is no longer necessary to search the device to find messages, as they are all grouped together. It is also possible to create a Universal inbox to synchronise personal and/or work accounts.

Another useful business feature is the ability to create 'Groups' and pin them to the Start menu. This allows the sending of emails, texts and instant messages to members of a team, for example, and the tracking of networking feeds, missed calls and other notifications for all the people in that group.

Information rights management software has also been built into Mango, meaning that employers can safeguard confidential information on Mango devices by preventing employees forwarding and copying sensitive emails or documents.

Microsoft has also been bigging up the integration of Twitter and LinkedIn into the People Hub. Messages from these social networks can now be viewed together with updates from Windows Live and Facebook. Account updates can be selected individually to avoid being overloaded with information.

Internet: HTML5 included, but not Flash
Browsing web pages on Windows Phone handsets before Mango was generally a pleasant experience, but there were a few niggles regarding the interface. One of the major bugbears was that the address bar was not accessible when surfing in landscape mode.

Thankfully, the address bar now appears in portrait and landscape modes. Microsoft has placed it at the bottom of the screen, and this is a nice touch as it makes it always accessible.

Additional menus are still located with a quick tap on the shortcut button, and Mango devices can support six tabs at any one time.

The IE9 browser supports HTML5, so it's possible to watch videos from sites using the latest web standard. However, Flash support is still lacking, so the devices will not be able to access as much content from the web as Android-based smartphones.

V3 asked Nick Hedderman, head of consumer marketing for Windows Phone, whether Flash could be expected and, although he did not rule it out, it is unlikely to be coming anytime soon.

It's also possible to search for hidden Wi-Fi networks, and forthcoming Mango smartphones will have Wi-Fi hotspot functionality. However, customers updating an existing Windows Phone to 7.5 will have to wait before Wi-Fi hotspots become available. Microsoft has said this is not a hardware issue, but to do with operators, and it is not known how long it will take before this is resolved.

Bing: Navigation improved and travel friendly features added
Microsoft has added a number of improvements to search. The dedicated search button is now context-sensitive, so pressing it while viewing a contact list allows searching by name, and pressing it while looking at the inbox triggers a search of email. The button also provides quick access to Bing.

Principal new features in Bing include enhanced navigation, Local Scout and Bing Vision.

Places can be saved as favourites, and it's now possible to receive audible directions and change the orientation of the map so that it faces your current direction or always points north.

Bing Vision is an interesting addition that uses the camera to scan QR codes, but the most impressive feature is the ability to take a picture of text and translate it into another language pretty much instantly. It works with English, French, Italian, German and Spanish text at present, but support for other languages is expected soon.

Local Scout, meanwhile, acts as a tour guide, automatically bringing up places of interest based on the handset's location. It recommends restaurants, places to shop and entertainment activities within a 25-mile radius, which could be a nifty tool for business users who make frequent trips abroad.

Importantly, a Battery Saver feature has also been added, which allows users to squeeze juice out of the device by turning off non-essential services. Users can also see exactly how much time is remaining - we were told that 12 per cent will yield around four hours of battery when the battery saver is turned on.

Missing features
As mentioned, Adobe Flash is not included and existing Windows Phone users will have to wait to use their device as a Wi-Fi hotspot.

However, other missing features include the ability to connect to a VPN, which will be essential for many business users. Skype has yet to be integrated in the platform, but Microsoft has said that an app will be coming soon. The inability to add input methods such as Swype, use the home screen in landscape mode and support front-facing cameras are not major omissions, but will irritate some people.

Overall
The Mango update is a major step in the right direction, boasting some much needed functionality such as multi-tasking, Wi-Fi, HTML5 and threaded conversation support. We particularly like the inclusion of Local Scout and Bing Vision.

Social networking integration is already a strength of Windows Phone, together with support for Outlook and Office. However, the Wi-Fi hotspot functionality needs to be sorted out quickly, and we were disappointed at the lack of Flash.

Mango is still not as well rounded as iOS and Android but, if Microsoft can continue adding core features, there is a chance that Windows Phone can continue to gain momentum and attract buyers.