Microsoft’s new mobile operating system promises to revolutionise mobile computing, moving away from applications and towards people. Managing director of Microsoft South Africa Mteto Nyati tells South Africa Magazine why this new technology is so exciting and what it means for the country.

By Jane McCallion

When you hear the word ‘mango’ you are more likely to start thinking about tropical islands than technology. But in the world of telecommunications, Mango is the codename for the hottest new operating system on the smartphone market – Windows Phone 7.5.

The excitement behind the launch of Mango is not just because of the new operating system, but also because of the anticipation around the launch of the Nokia Lumia 800 handset. While Windows Phone has previously been available through other phone manufacturers such as HTC and Samsung, for Mango, Nokia will be Microsoft’s global partner. Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop is heralding his product as “the first real Windows Phone” and has called the synergy between Mango and the Lumia 800 “a new dawn.”

Managing Director of Microsoft South Africa Mteto Nyati agrees that this is a watershed moment, emphasising that, with Windows Phone 7.5, the focus is on people. “It is not about applications, it is about putting people at the centre and when you look at how it embraces and combines that with the great design capabilities of Nokia, that to me is a winning combination.”

Microsoft believes that Mango is going to “completely change the game when it comes to computing” and it is not alone.

“Industry experts like Gartner and IDC are predicting that by 2015 Windows Phone will be the second largest mobile phone operating system after Android,” says Nyati.

The concept of making the Windows Phone 7.5 operating system ‘people focussed’ gave rise to its most distinctive features; the first is the way that the phone uses social media. “When I say that Mango is putting people at the centre, it means that you are able to group your contacts depending on things like if they are your family, your colleague, or whatever you choose,” says Nyati. “Once you have put them into those groups, you are able to view the activities of those people across Facebook, LinkedIn and other feeds. You can see everything they are doing just by clicking on your phone.”

Another exciting feature is seamless connectivity. This function can be used in many different ways, from business to entertainment. “Think about games, for example,” says Nyati, “Look at how popular Xbox and Xbox Live are. The ability for people to move from the screen at home seamlessly to playing the game on their phone as they proceed with their lives outside of the home. Or I could be on a conference call at work, and then move to my car, which will pick it up, then into my house, all without a break. That is an advantage that is quite unique.”

Mango users will also benefit from hands-free texting, which builds on existing Bluetooth technology. “When I leave the office this evening and go to my car, my phone will automatically connect with it via Bluetooth, but this is nothing new – it’s a function that all smartphones have now,” says Nyati. “However, if I get an SMS while I’m driving along, it will tell me that I have received a message and who it is from. Then it will ask what I want to do with the message and I can tell it via voice command whether to read it or save it. If I choose to read it, the device will read the message to me, ask me if I would like to reply and allow me to dictate a response. It is another example of how we are putting people first.”

Nyati feels that Windows Phone 7.5 is a very useful tool for South Africans, perhaps even more so than in Europe or North America, particularly because of a feature called ‘internet sharing’. “A real problem in developing countries is that broadband internet access is still a challenge. With Mango, you can use your phone to gain access to the internet not just through the handset, but allow other devices such as laptops and desktops to connect through it as well. This will allow people not just to communicate between friends, but to connect to the world and in developing countries like our country, we believe this is very valuable.”

As well are being people focused, Mango is also future focused. Nyati believes that we are now entering an ‘era of devices’. “We’re at a time where increasingly people have any number of devices,” he explains. “You have the phone, but you may also have a tablet and then in the office you will normally have a desktop or laptop computer and in the future there will be even more of them. We feel that you should not have to waste time putting in the information of business contacts or colleagues into each of these devices manually – you should be able to access it across any of these devices automatically. Closer integration between devices is a key design point of us.”

When it comes to the future of telecommunications in South Africa, one of Nyati’s main aspirations is for smartphones to become more accessible. “We would like to see a driving down of costs so that as many people as possible can enjoy the benefits of having a smartphone, particularly in the developing world” he says. “The sooner we are able to see the smartphone at an affordable price for everybody, the better. In South Africa, the price of connectivity is a problem, particularly for data transfer, so that really needs to come down too. Once we have achieved these things, it will help the economy and it will help development as well.”

Image: Getty