Microsoft has officially previewed the next major release of the Windows Phone 7 platform. It's code-named 'Mango' and will include more than 500 new features.

This update will be available free to existing Windows Phone 7 customers and is expected to be included on new phones from the autumn. Those new phones will be produced by Microsoft's existing partners - including Nokia - and by new manufacturers including Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE.

Last year we reported the creation of a multi-million pound EC-sponsored development project centred on the Symbian operating system.

It was called SYMBEOSE - standing for 'Symbian – the Embedded Operating System for Europe' - and it's now been closed down without a single Euro being spent by the European Union.

A new report from the Consumer Electronics Association says the average US household spent $1,179 (around £732) on consumer electronics products in the past 12 months, a drop of $201 from the previous year.

American households were calculated to contain 24 separate consumer electronics products, down from 25 in 2010.

Mark Bridge writes:

With all the excitement about the partnership between Nokia and Microsoft, it's easy to forget another partnership between a major online brand and the Finnish mobile giant.

Exactly a year ago, Yahoo! and Nokia announced a worldwide strategic alliance that would see Nokia providing Yahoo!'s maps and navigation services under the Ovi brand, while Yahoo! would power Nokia's Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat services. The two companies would also work on sharing log-in details across Yahoo! and Ovi services.

James Rosewell writes:

Microsoft have been talking about Mango, the upcoming upgrade to Windows Phone 7 incorporating their battery-friendly flavour of multi-tasking and 499 other new features. They've also welcomed Fujitsu, Acer and ZTE to the Windows Phone fold. However there was no significant news from Nokia and Microsoft. No timeframe for handsets, nothing in fact. Both companies are being tight lipped about the partnership at the moment.