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It's here. Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" started rolling out to devices today, and it brought a few surprises along for the ride.


Here is a brief rundown of some of the highlights in "Mango":

Messaging Threads: Within a messaging exchange between you and another party, you can switch the messaging platform on the fly. You can start off instant messaging, switch to SMS texting, then jump over to Facebook messaging all within one message thread.
Group Contacts: With "Mango" you can create groups of contacts like "Family", or "Softball Team". You can filter incoming messages in the People Hub using the groups, and you can use the Group as a contact for outbound messages if you want to send an email or text message to the whole group.
Local Scout: The Maps app in "Mango" has a new tool called Local Scout that identifies places nearby to eat or drink, tourist sites and things to do, and places to shop. You can also use it to plan a trip by finding where you're going to travel on the Maps app ahead of time and then using Local Scout to discover what's near there.
Multitasking: "Mango" brings multitasking to Windows Phone 7 beyond the core functions of the OS. It's not "true multitasking", but it is precisely the right kind of multitasking for a smartphone OS.
Speech Recognition: There is little you can't do just using voice commands with "Mango". The speech recognition functions allow you to place calls, open apps, search the Web, or get directions to a restaurant without touching the smartphone. You can also speak text messages, and have incoming messages read out loud so you can text while driving without touching the phone or taking your eyes off the road.
Visual Search: "Mango" can do neat things like scan Microsoft Tags and QR codes, automatically identify and find information on books, CDs, and DVDs just by "looking" at the cover, and translate text to and from just about any language.

Read the entire article: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente..._surprise.html