ReadWriteMobile

This morning, Microsoft officially revealed the future of its Windows Phone mobile operating system, a release known as "Mango." Now, the first set of developer tools to work with the new platform are being made available online, in beta format.

For developers, these tools offer a major leap in the types of applications which can be built for the mobile OS, as they introduce much-requested features like multi-tasking, access to sensors and better ways to utilize Windows Phone's Live Tiles.

Microsoft is planning an official "VIP Preview" of its forthcoming Windows Phone mobile operating system update, code-named "Mango." The preview, intended for press and analysts, is scheduled for May 24th. As it turns out, we may also see the release of the Mango SDK at the same time. At least, that's what we're expecting, considering that Microsoft already confirmed the new developer tools will arrive in May.

Microsoft recently announced a number of changes to its mobile application submission process for Windows Phone 7 to address concerns and confusion cited by its developer community. The changes were made in response to this developer feedback, says Microsoft, and are designed to streamline the overall process, add clarity and generally "make your life easier," Microsoft explains.

Described below, these changes will go into effect on June 3 for all new applications and app updates.

Microsoft announced today via its Windows Phone Developer Blog the release of a new tool designed to help developers migrate iPhone applications to the Windows Phone 7 platform. While Microsoft reminds developers that there's "no magic wand that will do the work for you," the new iPhone/iOS to Windows Phone 7 API mapping tool will make the process far less painful.

The highly-anticipated update to Microsoft's fledgling mobile operating system, code-named "Mango," is now known as "Windows Phone 7.5." Despite the company's determination to keep the number under wraps, leaks have emerged both during sessions at Microsoft's recent MIX 11 developer conference and now, via a website on Microsoft's Partner Network.

The version number indicates that Mango, as we already know, is a large enough update to warrant a change in version numbers. However, going forward, the Windows Phone platform will no longer include the number. Confused?

This morning at Microsoft's MIX '11 conference in Las Vegas, the company confirmed the next version of its new Windows Phone mobile operating system - code-named "Mango" - will arrive this fall. The update will bring Microsoft's OS more on par with its competitors by finally introducing multitasking capabilities, which allows applications to run in the background, while others run in the foreground.

But multitasking is only one of many planned features coming in the Mango release. Also new is an updated version of Internet Explorer 9, programatic access to the phone's camera and accelerometer so developers can build apps that utilize the device's hardware, improved Marketplace search and filtering, additional language support and much more.

In the spirit of keeping you up-to-date on mobile industry news and changes, we've rounded up a few items you may have missed over the last week or so. This round-up includes an update on the games network OpenFeint, details about Sencha Touch 1.1's release, the latest numbers for the Windows Phone 7 platform and a new, open source Bing Maps SDK.

Let us know if you would like round-ups like these to be a more regular feature here on ReadWriteMobile.

Just prior to the start of this week's annual Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Microsoft and Nokia shook up the mobile industry with the announcement that Nokia would abandon work on its MeeGo smartphone operating system (OS) and would begin shipping handsets running Windows Phone 7 starting sometime this year.

Eventually, said Nokia, Symbian handsets will be phased out as Windows Phone becomes the company's new flagship OS. So what does this mean for the developer community?

Microsoft recently rolled out new Windows Phone Developer Tools, which include, among many things, the anticipated copy-and-paste functionality that will arrive in the operating system's first major update. The public launch of that update is still unknown at this time, however.

Says Microsoft, the toolkit will let developers build apps using the new assemblies that ship with the forthcoming Windows Phone OS update. Plus, any app built using these tools will also work on phones that have not yet been updated to the new OS.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer officially confirmed the timeframe for the series of planned updates to the company's mobile phone platform Windows Phone 7 during his keynote address at this week's Consumer Electronics Shows (CES 2011) in Las Vegas. No, he didn't give an exact launch date for the updates - this is Microsoft, you know - but he did say that the updates will begin in the "next few months."

In addition, blogger Paul Thurrott of Windows Phone Secrets has detailed a number of things about the coming updates, including when they will launch and what they provide.