Microsoft revealed a number of new updates coming to Windows Phone 7 in 2011 during its keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress, including potential Kinect integration and hardware accelerated web-browsing experiences.
The mobile OS will get multitasking capabilities in 2011, an in-demand feature for the phone. By holding the back button, users can browse through a tile-based UI, giving the ability to scroll through active apps and select them quickly.
There will also be support for playing third-party music apps while navigating the phone.
Windows Phone 7 will also have broader support for SkyDrive connectivity this year. It will give consumers and SMEs access to the service on the phone. It also allows users to mark certain files as public, allowing others to collaborate with them.
Microsoft also showed a demo of how the mobile OS will also be able to be used as a companion device with the Kinect, fusing home and mobile game experiences. A video was displayed at the keynote speech, showing users playing games on their Windows Phone, while the game they were playing appeared onscreen.They could also play this game with someone physically, using the Kinect controller.
Microsoft will bring Internet Explorer 9 to Windows Phone 7, implementing its hardware acceleration capabilities giving it the same core browsing engine as PCs. The company aims to give users browsing the internet on phones the same experience as browsing on PCs.
The update to the mobile operating system will also bring full Twitter integration to the People Hub.
Windows Phone 7 will see its first update in early March.
