Turn-by-turn Navigation, Barcode Scanning & More In Windows Phone's Next Big Update

"Mango," the next major update to the Windows Phone mobile operating system, will include several notable enhancements for consumers, including turn-by-turn navigation, built-in barcode scanning, voice-to-text speech input, on-device podcast support and a music identification service similar to the popular mobile application Shazam, but available within Bing. Mango, also known as Windows Phone 7.5, is due out this fall. Sponsor At Microsoft's recent MIX '11 conference in Las Vegas, the company detailed many of Mango's features aimed at developers such as multi-tasking, improvements to the phone's Live Tiles (the square-shaped homescreen informational hubs) and deeper access to the phone's hardware and services, like contacts and calendar, plus sensors like the accelerometer and camera. While those announcements will have a direct impact on how an end user perceives the Windows Phone mobile operating system (OS) itself, the news was more targeted towards developers attending the conference, not the mainstream audience. But in a recent Windows Phone Dev Podcast, hosted by Ryan and Travis Lowerdermilk, and featuring special guest Brandon Watson, Director of Developer Experience at Microsoft, it was revealed that a number front-end, consumer-facing features are making their way into the Mango update, too. What's New in Mango for Consumers According to Watson, these include the following: Bing Audio: A music search feature built into Bing allows you to hold up your phone to a music source to identify the song being played.