Steve Ballmer today announced that Microsoft will be adding 500 new features to its next iteration of Windows Phone 7, code named "Mango," according to a video posted on WMPoweruser.com. Ballmer made the comments at talk he gave to developers in Japan.
"We came to market about a year later than I wish we had with Windows Phone 7. Shame on us, but we're moving forward very actively," Ballmer said, adding that Mango will be rolled out in Japan later this year.
Ballmer said Microsoft will hold a "big launch event" tomorrow to outline the specifics of the Mango update. He said the company will also talk about which OEMs will be developing phones around the update, and which carriers will be offering those phones in Japan.
"We're pushing a different approach to user interface design, an approach in which literally right on the homescreen of Windows Phone, you our developers, can provide integrated experiences across your own and third-party applications that are alive and vibrant and real-time for our devoted customers," Ballmer said.
Ballmer spoke briefly about Microsoft's acquisition of the VoIP provider Skype, saying the service figures nicely into the company's most fundamental mission, which is to help people communicate. "Skype is the most popular software on the planet for people who want to do real-time video connections, in addition to being very important in helping people do voice and other real-time communications."