It appears that the first Nokia phones to run Windows Phone are currently on track to debut later this year, in fact, some Nokia phones are already running Windows Phone 7.5 (codename “Mango”, yes, it does appear it is actually 7.5 not 7.1).

Recently Jo Harlow, head of Smart Devices at Nokia, was interviewed by Elizabeth Woyke of Forbes, who found out some interesting details on Nokia’s plans for Windows Phone.

Harlow has very high optimism of the Nokia and Microsoft alliance, but believes the future remains a huge opportunity. Woyke says the reason for her optimism is due to her being ahead of schedule, along with “several Nokia devices were already running Mango, the latest version of Windows Phone software.”

While Nokia has yet to confirm a date, or even confirm that a device running Windows Phone will be available later this year, “Our target is absolutely still this year…and the target looks good,” said Harlow. Woyke also says that her target is not just a single phone, but a “small portfolio” of devices. It is highly likely that these first phones will be much like current Symbian phones, simply more powerful, however.

“One of the differentiations we intend to bring to the Windows Phone platform is
hardware innovation… You will see that in our first devices and our future devices,” said Harlow. Woyke brought up dual-core processors, which Harlow did not deny, but mentioned that such types or processors would need to be integrated carefully, otherwise battery life could suffer. However Harlow also said such processor upgrades would be the “kind of investment” Nokia would use to differentiate their devices.

It also appears NFC could be brought to their devices as well, not just Windows Phones but also their Symbian devices. With NFC, mobile phones can exchange information to pay for items in stores and other miscellaneous tasks. Nokia could even make a China-specific device, along with CDMA compatible devices too. Currently most Nokia devices use GSM, according to Woyke.

Oh, and by the way, the renderings of phones made by Nokia (such as the one pictured above) earlier this year were described as “not characteristic” of the first Windows Phone, according to Harlow.

Source: Nokia’s Smartphone Chief On Microsoft Alliance, Future Windows Devices

Credit: electronista.com

At today’s unveiling of Windows Phone “Mango” (which appears to Windows Phone 7.1) Microsoft confirmed that there will be 4G Windows Phones available along with the release of this major update, according to Electronista.

There was no mention of the technology to be used for 4G, which would mean the 4G Windows Phones could use LTE, WiMAX, or any other 4G technology.

Electronista pointed out something interesting: Dell was no where to be found. Among the partners Microsoft listed (HTC, LG, Samsung, to name a few), along with the new partners such as Acer, Fujitsu Limited, and ZTE Corporation, Dell was absent from the list. Dell released the Dell Venue Pro along with other Windows Phones that came out on the day of the initial launch, but Dell may be dropping out. This is not surprising, seeing as the Dell Venue Pro’s have faced major issues with hardware.

With Microsoft finally talking about what to expect with the next major update to Windows Phone, Windows Phone “Mango,” they also released a video demonstrating just a few of the features which will be available by Fall of this year.

Today is the big day, and Microsoft is currently in the process of “lifting the curtain” on the next major release of Windows Phone 7. So let’s take a look at what’s new.

Better Communication

• Threads – Now you can quickly move between text messages, Facebook chat, and Windows Live Messenger within the same conversation.
• Groups – Contacts can be grouped, allowing you to pin such groups as Live Tiles to the start screen, these grouped contacts will then appear in a Hub and only show the latest status updates and other information from those in the group. You can also send a text, email or instant message to the whole group.
• More social – Twitter and Linked In are now integrated into contact cards, along with built-in Facebook check-ins, and “new face detection software that makes it easy to quickly tag photos” and post them to your account.
• Linked Inbox – Multiple email accounts can be viewed from one “linked” inbox, along with conversations being organized “to make it easy to stay on top of the latest mail.”
• Hands-free messaging – With built-in speech-to-text and text-to-speech capabilities, text messages can be sent (and read) without needing to use the keyboard, along with chatting.

More than just apps

• App Connect – Applications will now appear in search results, along with hubs. Say you are looking for movie information, applications which can help you find movie information will appear in such search results and allow you to quickly get into the app and find what you are looking for. Not only will it show apps that you have installed, but also new apps you can download.
• Improved Live Tiles – “Live Tiles are more dynamic and can hold more information — making it easier to get real-time info from apps without having to open them.”
• Multitasking – The long awaited multitasking will finally arrive, allowing apps to run in the background “while preserving battery life and performance.”

Better browsing and searching

• Internet Explorer 9 – We were already aware of this long ago, but here it goes again: IE9 Mobile will literally be IE9, but mobile. This browser will support everything the desktop version does, such as HTML5 and hardware-accelerated graphics. IE9 Mobile also takes up less screen room than the current browser, giving you more room to view the web.
• Bing – Bing on Windows Phone will offer Bing Vision and Bing Audio, allowing you to scan QR codes, Microsoft Tags, barcodes, products, and more. Bing Audio will identify a song using the microphone on the device.
• Local Scout – “Provides hyper-local search results and recommends nearby restaurants, shopping and activities in an easy to use guide powered by Bing.”
• Cards – Summarizes relevant information from Bing for products, movies, events or places you are looking for.

More languages, and phones

Mango will support new languages, include: Brazilian, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Swedish.

The Windows Phone Marketplace will also be available in a total of 35 countries beginning this fall, which is nearly twice the markets currently supported.

We are already aware of Microsoft’s big alliance with Nokia for Windows Phones, but today they are announcing new partnerships with Acer, Fujitsu Limited, and ZTE Corporation for new Windows Phone devices.

Windows Phone Marketplace coming to the web

The Windows Phone Marketplace will also become available on the web, allowing users to browse and purchase apps online. That way once you go to your phone, the app will be ready to go. Currently the Android Marketplace also offers this feature, and it is certainly a great feature to have.

Check out the video

If you want to see more, check out the video of Joe Belfiore showing off Windows Phone “Mango.”

This morning at a Japanese event Steve Ballmer said that Windows Phone 7.5 (codename “Mango”) will bring “over 500 new features” to the mobile platform, according to Paul Thurrott of Windows Phone Secrets. Microsoft will also announce new hardware partners as well.

Let’s hope this isn’t just a bunch of hot air, as tomorrow Microsoft is set to “lift the curtain” on the next major update for Windows Phone tomorrow.

Here are a few features rumored to be coming in this major update:

• Bing Vision – Scan QR codes, Microsoft Tags, barcodes, products and product images.
• Bing Audio – Much like Shazam, which will identify a song by using the microphone on the device.
• On-device podcast support – The ability to subscribe to and download updates of podcasts right from the device.
• SMS Dictation – You can dictate SMS messages to the phone, along with having the phone read messages to you.
• Visual voicemail

There is quite a bit more than that, but we do know multitasking, IE9 Mobile, SkyDrive support, and integrated Twitter will be coming in the update for sure.

If Paul Thurrott is allowed to do so, he will be live blogging from the event from his Windows Phone Secrets blog.