Windows Phone Update, Due later This Year, Will Offer Full Multitasking Capabilities

"Mango," the next major update to Microsoft Windows Phone software due later this year, will provide multitasking capabilities that allow users to work with one application while downloading applications and content in the background.

Microsoft is also planning a May release of new Windows Phone 7 developer tools that programmers can use to develop applications that take advantage of Mango's multitasking capabilities and improved memory efficiency, as well as make use of a smartphone's camera and motion sensing technology.

And the popular game "Angry Birds" will be available for Windows Phone 7-based smartphones beginning May 25.

Microsoft provided the Windows Phone 7 update Wednesday in a presentation by Joe Belfiore, director of Windows Phone program management, at Microsoft's MIX11 conference in Las Vegas.

The Mango release will support Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 browser, which debuted last month, and feature a new capability called "Live Agents" that allows an application to run in the background to improve battery efficiency.

Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7 last October in an effort to gain ground against rivals Apple and Google in the market for smartphone software. While Microsoft has not disclosed sales figures for Windows Phone 7, the company has said there have been 1.5 million downloads of the Windows Phone developer tools and that the number of third-party applications in the Windows Phone Marketplace has reached 11,500.

In February Microsoft and Nokia struck a broad alliance under which Nokia will develop a mobile device ecosystem based on Windows 7. But a Nokia developer at MIX11 said that as of yet there is no date for when those devices will be available, according to a Reuters report.