Microsoft serves up Mango to Windows Phone 7 users

OS update will be available from tonight

As of 6pm this evening, Windows Phone 7 devices will be updated with a version 7.5 release, codenamed 'Mango'.

The version will be rolled out to users gradually and will reach all customers by the end of October.

The release will be made available in 30 different countries across 60 mobile operators.

Microsoft has also said it will launch new updates with four new device manufacturers, Acer, Fujitsu, Nokia, and Chinese comms equipment vendor ZTE.

Microsoft UK's business director, Eric Hermelee, said: "A key partner for us is Nokia and we have a very strategic relationship with them enabling us to provide more choice, greater scale and more variety on form factors and pricing.

"We launched the first version of Windows Phone 7 on devices almost a year ago. Our core philosophy is to put people at the centre of their experience with the phone and organise their tasks accordingly," he said.

"We're adding hundreds of apps per day and there are now over 30,000 available. Although it's not about quantity but quality."

To get the Mango update Windows Phone 7 users will be provided with an 'over-the-air' notice from their mobile operator. They will then need to plug their phones into their PCs to receive the download.

Hedderman also explained that alongside the launch of Mango, there would be a new web-based Windows Phone marketplace for applications available through WindowsPhone.com, and localised for each country.

Microsoft is going after its main competitors in the mobile space, Apple and Android, with the Mango phone update.

It is also relying on its Windows 8 tablet and desktop device operating system to make headway in this market. However, this won't be released until April 2012 at the earliest.

Apple claims the number of apps for the iPhone will soon be "over 425,000", a figure that puts Microsoft's 30,000 apps into perspective.

However, earlier this year, analyst firm Gartner estimated Microsoft's share in the smartphone OS market would be 19.5 per cent by 2015, well up on its 2010 share of 4.2 per cent.