Andy Lees, Windows Phone unit president, had earlier confirmed that Nokia will wait for 'Mango', the next big update ? and other sources have its timing
Just in case there was any doubt that you won't be seeing any Nokia handsets running Windows Phone for sale before October, here's some other data from other reporters ? who had the pieces of the puzzle before Wednesday but hadn't fitted them together.
On Monday Ina Fried at the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital Blog, which in Microsoft to Add Multitasking, Internet Explorer 9 to Windows Phone Later this Year quoted Andy Lees, Windows Phone unit president.
He said that there would be two updates to Windows Phone this year. We know about the forthcoming minor one due in March: that's due to add copy and paste and some other minor enhancements.
But, said Fried, "The more interesting of the updates is the second one?a major release ? due later this year ... Windows Phone unit President Andy Lees told Mobilized that the new release later this year should answer critics who worried that Microsoft wouldn't be able to innovate fast enough to catch up or leapfrog over features available on rivals such as iPhone and Android ... The update later this year will be the one adopted by Nokia in its first Windows Phone, Lees said." (Emphasis added.)
So when is that release ? codenamed "Mango", as all the sites which follow Microsoft in microscopic detail have discovered ? going to be released?
Here's Mary Jo Foley, who is a reliable first-sourcer on things Microsoft, on February 10: "I first mentioned Mango a while back, noting that Microsoft was aiming to deliver that release in August/September 2011. From what I'm hearing from my contacts, getting the code to handset makers and carriers in time to get the Mango release to market for holiday 2011 is still the goal."
"Deliver the release" means to deliver the golden master code to handset makers, who then have to make it work, debug it as necessary, and ship those working handsets to retailers and networks, who will then sell them on.
Alternatively try WinRumors from 14 February: "Microsoft is planning to mark Windows Phone 7?s first birthday with a platform release to upgrade functionality and rebrand the platform. WinRumors spoke to Achim Berg, Corporate Vice President of Windows Phone Marketing, on Monday and he confirmed that the forthcoming changes are part of a platform release."
So: Nokia's first Windows Phone to use "Mango" ? confirmed by Microsoft.
Mango not to arrive until later this year, probably with autumn shipments of code. Windows Phone's first birthday: October, when the first ones shipped.
Thus despite the best (and repeated) efforts of Microsoft's head of PR Frank Shaw on Twitter to insist that this is "speculation and not fact", I'm confident that despite any smokescreens to the contrary or intended vagueness on Nokia's and Microsoft's part about possible dates, you won't see a Nokia "Windows Phone" device before October.
So what's in Mango? Details are thin (it's not the same as the small update due in March which will add Twitter to the People panel, copy+paste,
Mango will add:
? full Internet Explorer 9 support (which means HTML5 with features such as geolocation) using Trident 5 rendering engine. Presently WP7 phones run a mobile version of IE7 with some IE8 features.
? no Flash "for battery and other reasons", though Lees said that "We're not allergic to Flash.. It's not in this update, but we're not making some particular statement that it will never be there."
? probably no support for Silverlight - which at one time was Microsoft's answer to Flash.
? full multitasking support for third-party apps
But not very much is known beyond that. Still, it's very slightly more than was known this time a week ago.
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