Windows Phone 7 updated for devs, gets Angry Birds

Microsoft says it’s now rolling out its “Mango” Windows Phone 7 update to registered developers. The company also announced Beta 2 of its Windows Phone SDK 7.1, adding that the popular Angry Birds game is now available for its smartphone operating system.
The “Mango” update to Windows Phone 7, first promised in February by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, enables application multitasking for background processing, audio and file transfer, and fast application switching. Holding a phone’s back button down provides a card-like view (pictured) of all running applications.

 

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As far as we’re aware, Microsoft still hasn’t said when the update — which could wind up being called Windows Phone 7.5 — will be available to end users, beyond specifying a “fall” timeframe. But it revealed additional new features in May. And, on the 24th of the same month, it released a Windows Phone Developer Tools 7.1 Beta.

Last week, meanwhile, the company provided selected bloggers with Mango-equipped phones. These garnered positive reviews from the likes of AllThingsD (“a peach of a late bloomer”) and Gizmodo (“now better and finally feeling complete”).

As of June 29, the “most eager developers” can upgrade their retail Windows Phone devices to Mango too. According to a posting on the Windows Phone Developer Blog by Brandon Watson, Microsoft’s director of developer experience for Windows Phone, all registered developers will get Mango “in the next couple of weeks,” but those who want it earlier can apply to get access to a download on the Microsoft Connect website.

Responding to complaints that bloggers were the first to receive copies of Mango, Watson wrote, “Microsoft believes in developers like no other company, but not even we want developer teardowns serving as the foundation for how consumers ultimately understand Mango. To get Mango to you today, we had to first set some context so that the market would have a good understanding of the product and not define us only by those features that developers uncovered.”

Watson adds that all developers can now download the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 Beta 2, updated and renamed from the Windows Phone Developer Tools 7.1 Beta mentioned earlier in this story. Requiring the earlier tools to be removed before installation, the new version adds background processing of downloads and a more responsive user interface, among other changes listed in Microsoft’s release notes.

Microsoft also announced that Rovio’s Angry Birds — the best-selling game in which players sling birds at stone and wood structures — is now available for Windows Phone 7. The game, which seems to have gained the same iconic status that Microsoft’s Flight Simulator had in the early days of the personal computer, is free to try and $2.99 to buy, according to the company.