Inside Windows Live brings us more information on just what Messenger will bring to Windows Phone with the Mango update later this year. Microsoft believes that bringing Messenger to Windows Phone is about giving you control and being able to contact your friends and family all in one place. That one place is the Messaging Hub on Windows Phone which will have Facebook, Messenger & more integrated seamlessly so you can quickly chat and get on with your life.
Jeff Kunins, Group Program Manager of Windows Live Messenger and Connect, provided the extraordinary amount of information of what exactly Mango will bring to the Messaging Hub:
- Choose the services you want – More than 300 million people actively use Messenger to connect to people every month. The vast majority of those Messenger users are also members of other services like Facebook and Yahoo, where they also have connections they build and deepen every day. Because of this, we’ve steadily connected Messenger to other services so that you can use Messenger to sign in to the services you choose and chat with who you want.
- Access them from all your devices – Similarly, Messenger has been available for many years on a wide range of devices, using applications built both by Microsoft and through our broad partner program. In addition to the classic Messenger desktop programs for the PC and Mac, Messenger is built into the web on Hotmail, SkyDrive, and various 3rd party sites throughout the world. Also, Messenger applications are available for most mobile phones and mobile operators around the world, including Windows Phone 7, iPhone, Android, Blackberry OS, Nokia Symbian, Samsung Bada, and many more.
- In a beautiful experience that brings text messaging and IM together – We love that Messenger already helps people access the services they want, from the devices they choose, but we’ve also heard you asking for a seamless, built-in Messenger experience on your Windows Phone. When you’re on your phone, you want one convenient place that lets you chat with all your contacts, so IM should be seamlessly integrated into how you already use text messaging.
Continue reading after the break for screenshots and even more information.
- It’s not an app—it’s built into the Messaging hub – The hub experiences like Messaging, People, and more on Windows Phone are a powerful way to connect and share on your terms. On Windows Phone Mango release, Messenger is a built-in part of the Messaging hub, making it easier and faster to access in the most intuitive place. There’s no app to download and no separate experience to navigate.
- Messenger chat – Chat comes with all the best features of classic Messenger like IM and presence, emoticons, and MPOP (multiple points of presence, meaning you can be online in Hotmail and on your phone at the same time). Just click on the Messaging hub and your friends’ list, personal presence, and more are right at your fingertips. It works seamlessly with any other Messenger experience your friends are using, whether it’s on the PC, in Hotmail, or on their other devices.
- Connected services, starting with Facebook Chat – If you’re one of the more than 25 million people who’ve already connected Facebook to Windows Live, then you’re all set to use Facebook Chat from the new Windows Phone. If you haven’t yet, just quickly connect it from your phone and you’re good to go.
- IM and SMS in one easy place with seamless switching – The Messaging hub is one easy place for your IM and SMS chat threads and conversation history, which appear in one simple list. When you start a new thread, Windows Phone automatically picks the richest service for you to chat with your friend.
- Photo sharing locally or from the cloud – As you IM, you can easily insert photos into your conversation to bring it to life. Take a new photo right now to show the smile on your face or the quirky scene across the street, pick from the camera roll on your phone, or share from any of your albums on SkyDrive or Facebook.
- Group chat – Since Messenger is about friends and families, we also wanted to make sure you can connect in groups.
- Voice to text – Say what you want to say in your own voice (and avoid texting while driving). The Messaging hub comes with built-in voice recognition, letting you speak your next message whether you’re using IM, SMS, or both.
There are 300 million Windows Live Messenger users around the world today, and with Windows Phone accessing that large amount of users the communication is definitely seamless and massive. Users will be able to communicate from PC to Windows Phone, Windows Phone to Xbox 360 (while signed in to Messenger), etc. on whichever device they choose to access.
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