Microsoft is continuing to innovate with Windows Phone 7. It’s great to see something from Microsoft that carries with it some excitement around features and design. Beginning with Metro, Microsoft has shown great care in their use of typography, motion, and a simplified aesthetic, which they describe as content not chrome.
Now with the upcoming release of Windows Phone dubbed “Mango”, we’re starting to see some fantastic and subtle in app touches. This is really highlighted with Threads, which aggregates the conversations you’ve had with friends across multiple networks.
Example, your text thread may contain content from multiple networks, such as SMS, Facebook, and more (pictured below).
You can easily see within Threads what networks your friends are on so you can connect with them right away (as shown below).
Presumably, there’s some routing feature in Threads which helps you select an active network for your friend but even without this, you can get a feel for how Microsoft is starting to show some smarts with keeping you connected in easy, intuitive ways.
Here’s a video from Microsoft with further highlights:
Now all they need is some market share so we all have a compelling reason to get aggressive with designing for Windows Phone 7.