Microsoft to add 500 features to phone

REDMOND, Wash., May 23 (UPI) -- U.S. technology giant Microsoft Corp. plans to add 500 features to its next Windows phone, the company's Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said.

Betanews reported Monday that Ballmer was skimpy on details when he told an audience at the Japanese Microsoft Developers' Forum that the next Windows Phone would be loaded with new features. But company observers are saying the next Windows Phone will include Internet Explorer 9.

The e-mail program will be upgraded and People Hub, the phone's address organizer, will include Twitter support, Betanews said.

Microsoft has scheduled a press event in New York for Tuesday morning, at which more revelations are expected.

Although the last Windows Phone found an appreciative audience among critics, industry research firm Gartner said only 1.6 million of the 100 million smartphones sold in the first quarter of the year included Microsoft's operating system.