Mango update hits Windows Phone 7

Microsoft has started to roll out a major update to Windows Phone 7.

Dubbed "Mango", the update brings Windows Phone to version 7.5, and is the first major upgrade to the platform since it arrived last year.

The roll out will start today, but will be a gradual process with mobile operators providing the timing to their customers. Microsoft said all Windows Phone users should be updated by the end of October.

New features in Mango include hardware acceleration in Internet Explorer 9, multitasking and threaded messaging that puts social networking status updates alongside text messages.

Microsoft also stressed that Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter were all built-in to the phone OS.

Also today, Microsoft moved its Windows Phone Marketplace onto the web, so users can find apps they'd like from their browser, similar to Android's app store. The company said it now has more than 30,000 apps in its Marketplace.

Microsoft added that it has doubled the number of handset manufacturers from launch to eight, with ZTE, Fujitsu, Acer and - of course - Nokia now working on creating Windows Phone devices.