The fact that the Windows Phone 7 OS would be updated in 2011 has been known for months. What has not been known is exactly what the update (or updates) would include – with the exception of copy and paste.
Now Chris Walsh (of ChevronWP7 fame) claims that a “massive” update to Windows Phone 7 is right around the corner, an update which will include new functionalities above and beyond copy and paste. In fact, Walsh opines that the update is so substantial that Microsoft “could have called it Windows Phone 8” and that the company “took 3 months to do what Apple did in 3…”
We don’t know about all that, but this new information helps cement the rumors that Microsoft is hard at work on quickly bringing their fledgling mobile OS closer to its established rivals, iOS and Android.
And the faster, the better.
2011 additions to Windows Phone 7 are generally believed to include some form of multitasking, additional GPS utility like native turn-by-turn directions, custom ringtones, SkyDrive support, Flash, HTML5 compatibility, and tethering. Updates will be made available by Microsoft to users of Windows Phone smartphones, likely free of charge.
Microsoft is expected to announce the first update to Windows Phone 7 in early 2011. CDMA handsets running WP7 for use on Sprint and Verizon wireless networks are also expected to debut around the same time.