Windows Phone Mango Released To Manufacturing

Microsoft's much anticipated Windows Phone 7 Mango update has been officially finalized. Today, the company announced that its development team has officially signed off on the final build of Mango for release to manufacturing. This marks the end of development for the platform, which is now in carrier testing. From this point forward, what remains to be done is optimizing the code for Mango handset manufacturer and carrier partners.

This aligns with rumors of a September launch, supported by Microsoft's request for Mango app submissions in August as well as a Microsoft employee Tweet revealing that Mango handsets will be shipping to ImagineCup student finalists in September. Additionally, during the recent Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, several upcoming Windows Phone handsets were shown running live builds of Mango. These included handsets from Acer, Fujitsu, ZTE, and Samsung. We also mustn't forget to mention Nokia's Mango handset dubbed the Sea Ray.

The Mango update is expected to bring over 500 new features, including the much requested app multitasking, a faster web browsing experience with Internet Explorer 9, improved email with Conversation View, and Threads that bring together text, IM, and Facebook chat all into one conversation.

[via Windows Team Blog]